Alchemical Theory

The One Thing (or the Subtle Ether)

Space, whether interplanetary, inner matter, or inter-organic, is filled with a subtle
presence emanating from the One Thing of the universe. Later alchemists called
it, as did the ancients, the subtle Ether. This primordial fluid or fabric of space
pervades everything and all matter. Metal, mineral, tree, plant, animal, man; each
is charged with the Ether in varying degrees. All life on the planet is charged in
like manner; a world is built up in this fluid and move through a sea of it.
Alchemical Ether, which some Hermeticists call the Astral Light, determines the
constitution of bodies. Hardness and softness, solidity and liquidity, all depend on
the relative proportion of ethereal and ponderable matter of which they me
composed. The arbitrary division and classification of physical science, the whole
range of physical phenomena, proceeds from the primary Ether, for science has
reduced matter as we know it to nothing but Ether, which, although not solid
matter, is still matter, the First Matter of the alchemists. When most of us speak
of matter, of course, we usually visualize solid substance, but it has been proved
by that matter is not actually solid, but merely a stress, a strain in the etheric field
of time and space. The atom and the electrons and protons of which it is
composed, all move in a sea of Ether, so, that in accordance with this theory of
alchemy, the very air we breathe, the very bodies we inhabit, all things most
likewise be moving in this sea of Ether, the parent element from which all
manifestation has come.
This principle that all things proceed from One Thing is demonstrable in the
realm of biology, for the multicellular organisms, complex as they may be in their
structure, nevertheless arise from a single cell. Science postulates that all matter
is composed of atoms; atoms, however, are composed of protons, neutrons, and
electrons, and those in turn composed of still finer components until we the
Ether. This Ether is.a universal connecting medium, filling all space to the
furthest limits, penetrating the interstices of the atoms without a break in its
continuity. So completely does it fill space that it is sometimes identified with
space itself, and has, in fact, been spoken of as Absolute Space.
"The Ether of space," according to physicist Sir Oliver Lodge, "is a theme of
unknown and apparently infinite magnitude and of a reality beyond the present
conception of man. It is that of which everyday material consists, a link between
the worlds, a consummate substance of overpowering grandeur. By a kind of
instinct, one feels it to be the home of spiritual existence, the realm of the aweinspiring. and supernal. It is co-extensive with the physical universe and is absent
from no part of space. Beyond the furthest star the Ether extends, in the heart of
the atom it has its being. It permeates and controls and dominates all. It eludes
the human senses and can only be envisaged by the powers of the mind. Yet the

Ether is a physical thing; it is not a physical entity, yet it has definite properties. It
is not matter any more than hydrogen and oxygen are water, but it is the vehicle
of both matter and spirit."
Now, the alchemist has divided matter, seen and unseen, into seven principles or
planes, and of these the fifth principle, or Quintessence, corresponds to science's
Ether or in more contemporary parlance, the Space-Time Continuum. If we are
willing to admit that there is some truth in this relationship of ideas, then we may
begin to see that alchemy is based on absolute law. All the forces of our
scientists have originated in the Vital Principle, that one collective life. Our life is
a part of, or rather one of the aspects of, the One Universal Life.
The Archaeus
During a person's life, there is present a finely diffused form of matter, a vapor
filling not merely every part of his physical body but actually stored in some parts;
a matter constantly renewed by the vital chemistry; a matter as easily disposed of
as the breath, once the breath has served its purpose. Paracelsus named this
First Matter of life the Archaeus, meaning the oldest principle. "The Archaeus is
an essence that is equally distributed in all parts of the human body," he wrote.
"The Spiritus Vitae (Spirit of Life) takes its origin from the Spiritus Mundi (Spirit of
the Universe). Being an emanation of the latter, the Archaeus contains the
elements of all cosmic influences and is therefore the cause by which the action
of the cosmic forces act upon the body."
The Archaeus is of a magnetic nature and is not enclosed in a body but radiates
within and around it like a luminous sphere. Alchemy and alchemy alone, within
the current historical epoch, has succeeded in obtaining a real element, or a
particle of homogeneous matter. This is the true Mysterium Magnum. By this
age-old science the alchemist may set free this Vital Principle in his laboratory,
destroy the body of the metal on which he is working, purify its Salt, and
reassemble its principles together in a higher form. The alchemical process,
which is, after all, but a miniature reproduction of a superior process in operation
around us all the time, undoubtedly proceeds from Master Intelligences who have
lived at some time or another on our earth.
The Scientific Approach
It is a pity that science must always reject old ideas and cast them away as
useless before rediscovering them as something new to be incorporated into
current theories. To discard the alchemist's theories is about as intelligent as to
dismiss as rubbish Einstein's Theory of Relativity merely because one does not
happen to understand his language. Some of our scientists have realized this for
a long time. F. Hoefer in Histoire de la Chimie (Paris 1866) remarked: "The
systems that confront the intelligence must remain basically unchanged through
the ages, although they assume different forms [depending on the age and

culture of man]. Thus, through mistaking form for basic truth, one conceives of an
erroneous sequence. We most remember that there is nothing so disastrous in
science as the arrogant dogmatism that despises the past and admires nothing
but the present innovation."
If scientists would try to understand the conception of the universe as taught by
Hermeticism (the Perennial Philosophy) throughout the ages, taking as its
starting-point the teaching of the One Mind in Manifestation; its seven planes of
consciousness; its infinite archetypal forces, and as the basis of its philosophy
the Emerald Tablet axiom "As Above, so Below," it would create a lasting system
of understanding based on eternal Truth instead of on a quicksand of egocentric
theories. Science will never really understand the truth about life until it reaches
this realization. Such a realization cannot be attained through its instruments and
appliances but only through the inner powers of the mind.
The Quintessence
Paracelsus noted: "Nothing of true value is located in the body of a substance,
but in the virtue thereof, and this is the principle of the Quintessence, which
reduces, say 20 lbs. of a given substance into a single Ounce, and that ounce far
exceeds the 20 lbs. in potency. Hence the less there is of body, the more in
proportion is the virtue thereof."
"The Magi in their wisdom asserted that all creatures might be brought to one
unified substance," he continued, "which may by purification and purgation, attain
to so high a degree of subtlety, such divine nature and Hermetic property, as to
work wonderful results. For they considered that by returning to the Earth, and by
a supreme and magical separation, a certain perfect substance would come
forth, which is at length, by many industrious and prolonged preparations, exalted
and raised up above the range of vegetable substances into mineral, above
mineral into metallic, and above perfect metallic substances into a perpetually
alive and divine Quintessence. The evolutionary perfection includes within itself
the essence of all celestial and terrestrial creatures." By this Quintessence or
quintum esse, Paracelsus meant the nucleus of the essences and properties of
all things in the universal world.
From the Golden Casket of Benedictus Figulus comes the following wisdom: "For
the elements and their compounds in addition to crass matter, are composed of a
subtle substance, or intrinsic radical humidity, diffused through the elemental
parts, simple and wholly incorruptible, long preserving the things themselves in
vigor and called the Spirit of the World, proceeding as it does from the Soul of the
World. This is the one certain Life filling and fathoming all things, so that from the
three emanations of sentient beings (Intellectual, Celestial, and Corruptible),
there is formed the One Machine of the Whole World. This spirit by its virtue
fecundates all subjects natural and artificial, pouring into them those hidden
properties that we have been want to call the Fifth Essence, or Quintessence.

But this Fifth Essence is created by the Almighty for the preservation of the four
qualities of the human body, even as, Heaven is for the preservation of the
Universe. Therefore is this Fifth Essence and Spiritual Medicine, which is of
Nature and the Heart of Heaven and not of a mortal and corrupt quality, makes
life possible. The Fount of Medicine, the preservation of life, the restoration of
health, and in this may be the cherished renewal of lost youth and serene health
be found."

Have a Question About Alchemy or Personal

Transformation?
If you have a question about any aspect of alchemy, just Ask the
Alchemist!
(These questions are answered by Master Alchemists who have graduated from the Alchemy
Home Study Program.)

Question: I have a theoretical question for you. If Grail energy was

manifest, what was the potential for power that made the ancient
alchemists destroy, hide, or code their work? How would that apply to a
modern setting? If you had the Grail in front of you, how would you use
it? - <bb308@webtv.net>
Answer: The Grail energy for the alchemists was associated with the
First Matter, a kind of formless energy/matter/light that had almost
unimaginable potential. You have to realized that this was a very real
concept for them; they thought it had a physical form that manifested
sometimes as balls of light, phantom vessels, or even as creatures like
unicorns. This is the fundamental and most secret concept in alchemy.
All I may say is that I too have seen it; I too know it is real. And
its power is greater than anything we now have in our science, though
we are approaching an understanding of it in the equation of the
universe (E=MC2). Knowing this and seeing this, however, has not made me
any greater personally. In other words my ego, is not involved. Do you
remember the crucial question in the Grail myths -- Whom does the Grail
serve? It serves the King is the answer. It serves the King, not me.

Question: I'm reading THE EMERALD TABLET, which I'm finding

fascinating. I don't know anything about alchemy; this is the first
book I've read on it. On page 47 of the book there is a quote, "look in
the deepest of your wounds, for there lies the gold of your being."
What does that mean? Also, here is one of my favorite poems. I don't
know who wrote it, but it reminds me of what I'm reading in THE EMERALD
TABLET:

Tell a wise person or else keep silent, for those who do not understand
will mock it right away.
I praise what is truly alive, what longs to be burned to death in the
calm waters of the love nights, where you were begotten, where you have
begotten.
A strange silence comes over you, as you watch the silence and the
burning.
Now you are no longer caught in the obsession with darkness, and the
desire for high lovemaking sweeps you upward.
Distance does not make you falter: Now arriving in the magic,
flying, and finally insane for the light.
You are a butterfly and you are gone.
And so long as you have not experienced this, to die and so to grow,
you are only a troubled guest on the dark earth.
- TDracon@aol.com
Answer: What a beautiful poem! If you ever think of the author, let me
know. As for your question, the idea that the gold of our being
accumulates in the deepest of our wounds means that our innocence, our
true being, is a fragile thing, a truly golden presence that is
somewhat shocked by the harshness of the world, and once wounded it
gives up a part of itself. To really understand this, you might think
of a child, who hurt by some action, event, or even slight of tongue
retreats into itself for refuge. It does not mean that the child has
lost that part of him- or herself. It just means they have buried it or
hidden it away to protect so it is no longer "exposed." The source of
the pain may go away, but the feelings are still buried. Those feelings
carry tremendous energy, and through the alchemical process of
Dissolution we can retrieve that energy to fuel our transformation to
create a new self, true to our essence, that does not have to be hidden
away.

Question: I was wondering if you have or will someday have a chat room
where alchemists can connect in real time and share info with each
other? - TMClearlt@aol.com
Answer: You're in luck! I have just agreed to host a regular Internet
chat room devoted to alchemy and personal transformation. It is a
chance to share your questions and gain insight into alchemical methods
no matter what your level of expertise. We will also discuss personal
transformation and the meaning of mystical and paranormal experiences.
The two-hour discussion starts at 9:00 PM EST (or 8:00 CST/ 7:00 MST/
6:00 PST) on alternate Saturdays. It is hosted by the ADC Project
website, which is devoted to counseling people who have questions about
transpersonal experiences. To join the discussion, go to ADC chat rooms

section at http://www.after-death.com/chat/index.htm. Choose a nickname

and select "Alchemy" from the pull-down list. Schedule for 1999: August
7, 21; September 4, 18; October 2, 16, 30; November 13, 27; December
11.

Question: I wanted to ask you about the the seven "steps" revealed by
the Emerald Tablet versus the twelve steps inferred by adepts such as
Basil Valentine and George Ripley. Are the additional operations in the
twelve step process included within the seven steps? Or are they really
two separate systems? - LGodwin909@aol.com
Answer: The seven-step tradition dates back to the Emerald Tablet,
while the twelve-step is usually associated with astrological
archetypes. As I described in my book THE EMERALD TABLET, these two
systems are completely compatible. Obviously, the tablet's system
consolidates several steps together. For instance, the operation of
Putrefaction is a preliminary stage to Fermentation (or Digestion);
Cibation (or adding moisture at just the right moment) is part of the
Dissolution process; Amalgamation is a metallic Conjunction; Cohobation
and Sublimation are usually associated with Distillation; Projection
and Multiplication are most often associated with Coagulation. As for
the twelve signs of the zodiac, the following associations have been
made by alchemists Calcination - Aries (sometimes Sagittarius);
Dissolution - Cancer; Separation - Scorpio (and sometimes Sagittarius);
Conjunction - Taurus; Fermentation - Leo and Capricorn; Distillation Virgo and Libra; Coagulation - Gemini, Pisces, and Aquarius.

Question: I think I started the alchemical process inadvertently by

studying certain related topics. I believe I felt the dissolution of my
ego and it caused me to panic, and I fear I have aborted the Work. Is
it possible to continue or begin again? Can you explain to me the
concept of a "fallen angel" from an alchemical point of view? ZEPPELoso@aol.com
the Alchemist: Certainly the dissolution of ego can be a frightening
experience, but I think in the midst of your "panic" you must have
sensed a quieter, more resilient, and more genuine presence within.
When the falsity of ego is overcome, the essence within is allowed to
shine and you return to your true identity. That is the whole point of
the early stages of psychological alchemy. That hidden essence is all
that we work with in the higher stages. Begin again now! You have
nothing to fear and everything to gain.
As for your second question, we are all "fallen angels" from the
alchemical point of view. From the viewpoint of alchemy, a "fallen
angel" is anyone who for whatever reason has abandoned the Great Work.
This is also a way of describing our loss of innocence and purity both
as individuals and as a species. Just as each of us has fallen from the
golden innocence of childhood into the guilt and falsity of adulthood,
so have we fallen as a civilization from having perfect knowledge to
living in darkness. In both cases the culprit is focusing on worldly

gain that is the birth of ego in children and the birth of the superego
of dogma and prejudice in society. I believe the whole world is living
a Great Lie, and we will all suffer the consequences until we learn to
live in truth on all levels of our being.

Question: What is the Bird of Sublimation? - Answerwom@aol.com

the Alchemist: The Bird of Sublimation refers to the concluding process
of Distillation in which a substance (solid or dense liquid) being
distilled, suddenly condenses from the rising vapors and collects in a
highly purified powdery form in the neck of the vessel. This passing
from the vaporous state to the solid state marks the beginning of the
Coagulation phase in the production of the Stone. The Bird of
Sublimation is often associated with the Phoenix, the mythical bird
that roses in the smoke from its ashes and was reborn. It is also
associated with the Astral Body, which according to the great alchemist
Paracelsus, is our purified spiritual or golden body that coagulates at
the end of our personal transformation and represents a rebirth of
spirit on a higher level.

Question: Could you please advise how I might obtain a simple list of
alchemical symbols (elements, principles, metals, acids, etc). In
particular, what is the alchemical symbol for Spirit of Salt? By the
way, your website is very interesting and extremely well designed. Well
done! - Martin Baker <MBAKER4472@aol.com>
the Alchemist: Good news! In the Alchemy Resources section on this
website at the beginning of the Alchemy Electronic Dictionary is a
graphic with scores of alchemical symbols. Simply click on a symbol to
see its definition. You can also download a variety of Hermetic fonts.
The Spirit of Salt, however, is one of those ideas that is depicted in
a variety of ways. A square or cube is the symbol for salt, and a cube
suspended from a rope from Above is interpreted as the Spirit of Salt.
Sometimes, the Spirit of Salt is shown as a cube with five stars around
it. This of course, is the Quintessence or Fifth Element, which is the
Life Force. In the final analysis, the Spirit of Salt is the Astral
Body, the most highly purified Second Body of Light.

Question: Your book THE EMERALD TABLET, on page 143 where you discuss
the Emerald Tablet engraving, discusses the lady's right hand is
holding the grapes and it is the right hand that is chained to the
Clouds of Unknowing. What is the significance of the chained hand
holding the grapes? - Kristin <kristinl@jps.net>
the Alchemist: The right hand represents solar, rational consciousness;
the left hand represents lunar, intuitive consciousness. This was known
in the Middle Ages and confirmed in modern experiments with right/left
brain hemispheres. It is now known that the left brain (which controls
the right hand) is the seat of rational or scientific thinking, while

the right brain (which controls the left hand) is the seat of intuitive
or artistic behavior. Grapes are a classic symbol of the Life Force,
thus the right hand as rational thought hinders life force or keeps it
from expanding to include the unknown realm. When grapes are
"spiritized" or crushed and fermented to make wine, it symbolizes the
sacrifice of life force we must make to enter "the Kingdom."

Question: If we were to apply the template of alchemy to the United

States, which operation do you think would be in right now? This is
just a question that came to my mind in the wee hours of the morning.
Manly P. Hall has a book about the significance of the U.S. but I
haven't read it. Have you any thoughts? - Kristin <kristinl@jps.net>
the Alchemist: Many believe the United States is the result of the
alchemy of the whole planet's history. In many ways, the founding
fathers incorporated Hermetic principles into the creation of this
country. Certainly, freedom of consciousness is a necessary ingredient
in the alchemy of perfection. It is an idea that the founding fathers
incorporated into our constitution, as pointed out by Manly Hall and in
the chapter on Hermetic America in THE EMERALD TABLET. In fact, freedom
is required for evolution on any level. Looking at the nation itself, I
would say that it could lead the world into a wonderful Fermentation of
higher consciousness if the patriarchal powers that be allow it to
happen.

Question: Will the coming Avatar be required to trace the steps of the
Alchemist or will He/She be born an enlightened being? If He/She does
then what makes them different from any other spiritual healer? ZEPPELoso@aol.com
the Alchemist: The stages of spiritual alchemy are universal and take
place on a gradual spiral of becoming that most Eastern alchemists
believe can take many lifetimes before perfection is achieved. The
Avatar will be born a more enlightened being than anyone around him or
her, much like Jesus or Buddha or Mohammed. Their advanced state of
personal alchemy is what makes them different from other spiritual
healers. Yet it is part of their own personal alchemy to be present in
material form amongst us, part of the Coagulation operations of
Multiplication and Projection to make their enlightenment "real" or
grounded in reality. As the Emerald Tablet says, "Its inherent strength
is perfected if it is turned into Earth." Even the Stone "returns again
to Earth."

Question: I am sorry that I do not have time to completely look through

your site right now. I was simply wondering if alchemy has a separate
definition of matter and energy or whether they are placed as a part of
a higher level. - Christopher Wainwright <5aa98078.244817ab@aol.com>

the Alchemist: Alchemy defines matter and energy as one and the same.
That is, they are transformable into one another through the agent of
mind. That idea is very much in line with the view held in modern
physics, except the agent of transformation is light. In fact, if the
"C" in E=MC2 stood for consciousness instead of the speed of light, the
alchemical and the modern definitions would be identical!

Question: I am a High School Student, but I hope to understand as much

as possible on Alchemy. In a part of the site speaking of the Emerald
Tablet, you said that Alchemy tries to advance humans to a new
evolutionary level. Could one consider radiation capable of doing this?
I understand that in Chernobyl in the Ukraine the deer in the area had
a greatly increased rate of mutation, and mutation is what causes
evolution. - Sean Broderick <broderick@eazylink.com>
the Alchemist: Your idea about radiological mutation being alchemical
in nature is quite intriguing. I think the alchemists fully believed
that bodily mutation (perfection) was part of their art and they
experimented on creating a variety of life forms. The big difference is
that mutation caused by the random decay of isotopes is not intentional
and produces unexpected and unwanted results for the most part. The
question remains whether the use of alchemical will or mental
discipline could somehow "direct" the particles to hit correct areas of
the DNA strand to cause desirable mutations. Using mental imagery is
known to help cure diseases, and in particular, research by physicist
Helmut Schmidt has shown that subjects can affect the rate of
radioactive decay through concentration. Since this rate is set by
nature, the results are astonishing. So I would say that it is indeed
possible to increase the rate of desirable mutation (and therefore the
evolution of our species) through willed direction of radioactive
energies. Whether anyone has yet developed the purified consciousness
to do that, of course, is another question.

Question: I have met two self-described alchemists. Both were extremely

overweight, had serious health problems, and rotten teeth! Is this
typical? I find it hard to lend credence to the philosophy of someone
who cannot care for they own bodily health. I am curious about this
because I think alchemy has a global impact behind the scenes.
Ultimately, this may be the route to solving many world problems.
However, the reason for my asking about physically unhealthy selfdescribed alchemists is a concern about the possibility of a network of
unhealthy people out there who call themselves alchemists. Do you have
any comment on this, and the possibility of poor "spiritual hygiene."?
- Lise Knox-Seith <bulwinkl@sherman.bonzai.org>
the Alchemist: I have to agree that I am often disappointed by
spiritual leaders who speak of perfection and neither manifest nor seek
it on all levels on which they exist. To be spiritual does not mean to
become a radical ascetic and totally ignore the reality and care of the
body. This is a form of "monk's pride," a silent belief that you are
superior to others because of some spiritual discipline you follow.

Such a person needs to get real! As the alchemists believed, you must
FIRST be healthy and in sound mind even to start the Great Work. Plus,
perfection always takes place on all three levels of reality -- the
spiritual, the mental, and the physical. I am hardly perfected, but I
try to practice alchemy every day on every level. Besides my meditation
and psychological disciplines, I pay attention to my body. I am neither
unhealthy nor overweight; I am a vegetarian and jog fifteen miles a
week. I want to achieve optimum health, so I can practice the Great
Work with all the energy and clear-headedness I can muster.

Apollonius of Tyana
The Youth of Apollonius
The voice which had one night cried to the ship's captain, "Pan, great Pan is
dead!" still echoed over the Tyrrhenian sea; the three magi of Chaldma had
hardly climbed their towers after their journey to Bethlehem -- when Apollonius
was born in the little town of Tyana in what is now Turkey.
According to legend, great wonders marked his birth. The least remarkable,
though still interesting because it is quite credible, seems to be worthy of being
set down here. Just before he was born, his mother was walking in a meadow;
she lay down on the grass and went to sleep. Some wild swans, at the end of a
long flight, approached her and by their cries and the beating of their wings
awakened her so suddenly that the infant Apollonius was born right there at the
moment and before his time. Possibly -- for there is a relation between the birth
of certain persons and the life which surrounds them -- these swans had
foreseen and marked by their presence the fact that on that day was to be born a
being whose soul would be as white as their own plumage and who, like them
would be a glorious wanderer.
Apollonius, exceptionally, received the gift of physical beauty. Sometimes it
seems as if men with the seal of the spirit are apt to be nearsighted,
disproportioned, deformed. It is as though their inner fire causes irregularities in
their physical bodies. And their careers are accompanied by vague murmurings
to the effect that they have followed the barren path of thought only because the
path of pleasure was closed to them. But there was nothing of that sort said of
this favored among the children of Greece. And the renown of his beauty and
intelligence grew so great that the words, "Whither do you hurry? Are you on your
way to see the young man?" became proverbial in the province of Cappadocia
where he grew up.
Another unusual gift was that of a great fortune. His father was one of the richest
men in the province, so that his childhood was spent surrounded by luxury. He
lacked nothing, and from his early acquaintances, Apollonius retained a leaning

towards the aristocratic, a foible for greatness that impelled him, on his travels, to
hasten, before doing anything else, to visit the monarch of the country in which
he happened to be, and, later at Rome, to become the counselor of the
emperors.
When he was fourteen, his father sent him to Tarsus to finish his education.
Tarsus, as well as being a town of study was also a town of pleasure, and life
there was soft and luxurious for a rich young man. On the banks of the Cydnus
River, in an avenue bordered with orange trees, students of philosophy
discussed Pythagoras and Plato with young women in colored tunics slashed to
the hip, wearing Egyptian high triangular combs in their hair. The climate was
hot, morals free, love easy. But the young Apollonius was not carried away by
any of this. He showed at Tarsus a precocious puritanism from which he never
deviated subsequently. In his opinion, the wine flowed in too great abundance,
wine that veils the clarity of thought and hinders the soaring of the spirit. Perhaps
the young man was disturbed one evening by a face that was too beautiful and
thought that if he once allowed himself to lie in a woman's lap and loosen the
golden clasp of a silken tunic, he would be tempted to the end of his days to
repeat the experience.
So, by his fourteenth year Apollonius was probably aware of the existence of the
two different paths and weighed up all the riches of the mind, the time, the living
energy, that are lost to love. He must have learned the inverse relation that exists
between the gift of clairvoyance and the act of love. And no doubt also, he did
not feel the need for enriching the mind through the heart. He resolved to remain
chaste, and he seems to have kept his resolution throughout his life. Men of
austere virtue -- if, indeed, the absence of attraction by women can be called
virtue -- often find no difficulty in practicing this virtue because they lack the fires
that burn in other men.
Of what possibilities of knowledge are those men deprived who at the outset of
their lives adopt a rule of chastity? Buddha married the beautiful Yasodhara and
loved her tenderly. He even had other wives, in accordance with the custom of
his country. Confucius was married to the obedient Ki Koo, and Socrates had two
wives, in accordance with the laws of Athens, the charming Myrto and the badtempered Xanthippe. Plato made no profession of chastity, and Pythagoras did
not include it among the essential rules of his school; for tradition relates that he
was married to Theano and that he even laid down a series of precepts for
conjugal life. So that it was his own prudence, his own extreme regard for
spiritual safety, that impelled the young man of Tyana to keep his virginity, a
condition that was exacted only from vestals and Pythian priestesses in his time.
The Great Healer
He took up his quarters at Aegae with his Epicurean master Euxenes. Aegae
possessed a temple of Asclepius, the priests of which were philosophers and

doctors of the Pythagorean school. People came from all over Greece, Syria, and
even Alexandria to consult them. There were pilgrimages, wholesale healings, an
atmosphere of psychical phenomena and miracles prevailed. The priests of
Aegae healed by the laying on of hands and by the application of the power of
thought, which was a science with them. They practiced magic, studied the art of
the interpretation of dreams, as well as the more subtle art of inducing them and
extracting their prophetic element. They were the heirs of an ancient knowledge,
of which the teaching was oral, which came from the old Orphic mysteries, and
the secret of which had to be jealously guarded by the disciple who received it.
The school of Pythagoras formed at that time a secret community with several
stages of initiation. The members recognized one another by certain signs and
used a symbolical language in order that the doctrine might remain unintelligible
to the profane. Music, geometry, and astronomy were the sciences
recommended by the Pythagoreans as best adapted to prepare the soul for the
reception of suprasensory ideas. They taught detachment from material things,
the doctrine of the transmigration of souls through successive human bodies, the
development of spiritual faculties through courage, temperance, and fidelity to
friendship. They discovered the relation of numbers to the phenomena of the
universe, and they communicated with the souls of the dead and the spirits of
Nature by means of ceremonies and incantations. The aim of their teachings was
the enlargement and the purification of the inner man, his spiritual realization.
Apollonius remained in the temple of Asclepius, where he showed an astonishing
gift for healing and clairvoyance, as well as amazing eagerness to acquire the
secret knowledge. He let his hair grow, abstained from the flesh of animals and
from wine, and walked barefoot, clad only in linen clothes, giving up all that were
made of wool. However great a man may be, he does not disdain to dress his
wisdom in the uniform of a wise man. Euxenes tried in vain to deflect him into
more moderate paths. In his opinion true, wisdom was not so exacting a master.
It might be reconciled with all the pleasures of life.
Euxenes was one of those lean, insatiable hedonists, of whom the East produces
so many, and for whom intellectual speculations were almost physical pleasures,
of the same order as the choice of wine or women. He distrusted miracles, and
what he most admired in Plato was the fact that the immortality of the soul had
been discussed with the flowers and exquisite food at Agathon's banquet.
Apollonius bore Euxenes no ill-will for being so unlike the perfect man who was
his ideal. He bought him a villa surrounded by a garden outside Aegae and gave
him the money he required for his courtesans, his suppers, and his poor friends.
Apollonius then imposed on himself the four years' silence that was necessary to
obtain the final Hermetic initiation. He became very celebrated. This celebrity
grew uninterruptedly, a fact which he observed without displeasure. He made
predictions that came true, quelled a rebellion by his mere presence, resuscitated
a girl whose funeral passed him. But these were only recreations. Like all who

passionately seek truth, he went back to its sources, insisted on knowing the
origin of the divine waters of which he drank. Pythagoras traveled to Babylon and
Egypt. But, according to a tradition preserved in all the temples, it was in India
that he received the final word of wisdom; it was from India that he brought the
message that was to transform the men of Greece. Since then centuries had
passed, bringing with them deep, regular waves of human ignorance. The
message has to be continually repeated. Apollonius felt that he was invested with
the mission of setting off to seek reinterpret the ancient wisdom for his
generation, find the new words and bring them back.
He had no doubt been very much affected by the stories with which the Greeks
were then occupied concerning the Buddhist priest Zarmaros of Bargosa. Some
years before the birth of Apollonius, Zarmaros had come to Athens with an Indian
embassy bringing presents for the Emperor Augustus. He had been initiated into
the Eleusinian mysteries, and then, as he was very old, he gave out that it was
time for him to die, had a funeral pyre erected in a public square, and mounted it
in the presence of the astonished Athenians.
The Most Traveled Man in Ancient Times
The stories accompanying the death of Zarmaros impelled Apollonius to see the
country in which lived the wise men who had such a contempt for death. He
made preparations to travel alone and on foot. The journey would be long and
difficult, though less difficult than might be supposed. For in those days wise men
and men of religion recognized a mutual kinship and formed secret communities
in which the traveler found assistance and shelter from stage to stage. Moreover,
Apollonius knew where he was going. He took the route of Pythagoras, whose
itinerary chance or the benevolence of a hidden power enabled him to discover.
Some distance from Antioch, while visiting, as his custom was, the ancient
places that were sacred to the gods, he entered the half-abandoned temple of
Daphnaean Apollo. He was charmed by the solitary beauty of the spot, the
melancholy of the spring and the circle of very tall cypresses surrounding the
temple. There was no one there but a half-peasant priest, who seemed
somewhat crazy but in whom there still lived, like a forgotten lamp, the
consciousness that he had to preserve a religious secret. When the priest
returned from tilling his land, he found Apollonius among his cypresses. He
offered him hospitality for the night, which Apollonius accepted in order to be in
the holy place next day before sunrise. For he thought that to commune with the
gods, to receive their warnings and advice, the most propitious hour was that
which precedes the birth of day. He was at prayer next day when the priest
brought him the temple treasure, which had been preserved through tradition,
handed down from father to son.
This sacred treasure consisted of a few thin sheets of copper on which were cut
figures and diagrams. The crazy priest had jealously preserved them till that

moment, but in Apollonius he recognized the man worthy to receive the treasure
which to him was incomprehensible.
By the light of the rising sun, the Pythagorean deciphered on the copper sheets
the record of his master's journey, an indication of the deserts and the high
mountains to be crossed before he reached the river in which elephants disport
themselves and on the banks of which grow apples as blue as the calyx of the
hyacinth. He saw before him a description of the exact spot which he had to
reach, of the monastery among the ten thousand monasteries in India that was
the abode of the men who know Truth. Apollonius was to be the last Western
emissary for centuries. After him the door was shut. Thenceforward it was to be
possible to create light only from the almost vanished fragments of the ancient
wisdom. Darkness was about to fall for centuries on the Christian world.
Apollonius had just reached the little town of Mespila, which had once been
Nineveh, "brilliant as the sun on a forest of alms," and was looking at the low
houses built in past centuries by Salmanazar's slaves. The curve of a half-buried
cupola emerged from the sand. Near by was the statue of an unknown goddess
with two horns on her forehead, and among the broken mosaics a man was
sitting. It was a youth named Damis, who from that moment was to become his
life's companion. By virtue of some mysterious affinity, a dog which you meet
casually in the street turns, attaches itself obstinately to you and shows
inexplicable faithfulness. Damis rose to his feet, saluted the man who was
thenceforward to be his master and was accepted by him as a guide to take him
to Babylon.
Darius knew the way there perfectly, and he boasted, too, of knowing the
languages spoken in the countries through which they would have to pass.
Apollonius smiled and replied that he knew all the languages spoken by men and
understood their silence as well. Damis was to realize a little later that Apollonius
also possessed knowledge of the language of birds, and could read the great
characters, dark against the blue of the sky, formed by the trajectory of their
flight. But the guide was to act as guide for the terrestrial journey only; in their
spiritual journey it was he who was to be guided.
Damis was an ordinary man in quest of his fate, whatever that might be. If a
troupe of travelling actors had happened to pass by, he might have taken service
with them as a dancer. But it was a wise man whom he met, and he dedicated
himself to wisdom. Wisdom, however, never took much account of him. He did
not penetrate below the surface of the mysteries with which he came into
contact. Possibly because Apollonius always left him outside the door of the
temples; or else because his love of the miraculous prevented him understanding
truth.
The two travelers saw the glistening silver-blue domes of Babylon; they passed
through its walls, spoke with the magi and set out on their journey again. They

climbed mountains such as they had never seen before. The summits were
veiled in clouds, but Apollonius remained unaffected by the gradual unfolding of
their snowy immensities. "When the soul is without blemish," he said, " it can rise
far above the highest mountains." Next they crossed the Indus and passed
through countries whose coinage was of yellow and black copper and whose
kings were clothed in white and despised ostentation. One evening, on a lonely
river bank, they came on a brass stele inscribed with the words, "Here Alexander
the Great halted."
And when they had for many days followed the course of the Ganges, when they
had climbed more hills and mountains, and met the single-homed wild ass, the
fish with a blue crest Eke the peacock's, and the insect from whose body
inflammable oil is made; when they had avoided the tiger with the precious stone
in its skull (they saw it in the middle of a plain, a stone building with the same
elevation as the Acropolis at Athens). They were, according to Philostratus'
account, eighteen days' march from the Ganges. A strange fog hovered above
the place, and on the rocks surrounding it were the imprints of the faces, beards,
and bodies of men who appeared to have fallen. From a well with a bottom of red
arsenic the sun drew a rainbow.
Apollonius and his companion had the feeling that the path by which they had
come had disappeared behind them. They were in a place that was preserved by
illusion, in which the countryside shifted its position and moved in order that the
traveler might not be able to fix a landmark in it. Apollonius had at last reached
the country of the wise men of India, of whom he was later to say: " I have seen
men who inhabit the earth, yet do not live on it, who are protected on all sides
though they have no means of defense, and who nevertheless possess only
what all men possess."
Then a young Indian advanced towards them; on his hand was a ring of gilded
bamboo in the form of an anchor. He greeted Apollonius in Greek (for the men
whose messenger he was had heard of his arrival) and conducted them to the
community of wise men and to their head, Iarchas. For several months
Apollonius lived with the men who knew. It was here that he learned the science
of the spirit, the capacities hidden in the heart of man and the means of
developing them, in order to live as the gods live. It was from Iarchas that he
received the mission that was to send him wandering all his life long among the
temples of the Mediterranean countries, for the purpose of dematerializing
religion and restoring its former purity. It was here that he learned to pronounce
the ineffable name of God, the secret of which confers on its possessor supreme
power over men and the capacity of dominion over invisible beings.
When he left his Indian hosts, Apollonius had the certain knowledge that he
would be able to remain in communication with them. "I came to you by land," he
said; "and you have opened to me not only the way of the sea but, through your
wisdom, the way to heaven. All these things I will bring back to the Greeks, and if

I have not drunk in vain of the cup of Tantalus I shall continue to speak with you
as though you were present."
The wise men, on the threshold of their valley of meditation, gave them white
camels on which to cross India. They returned by the Red Sea, in which the
Great Bear is not reflected and where at midday men cast no shadow on the
deck of their ship. They saw the country of the Orites, where the rivers abound
with copper ore; Stobera, the city of the Ichthyophagi ; and the port of Balara,
surrounded with myrtle and laurel, where are found shell fish with white shells
and a pearl in the place of the heart.
His Mission
Apollonius returned from India charged with a task of the magical order, which,
within the knowledge of man, he was to be the only person to accomplish. It is
possible that Pythagoras before him had been invested with the same mission,
which he discharged during his travels. But that we shall never know.
Iarchas had shown Apollonius, in a cell of his monastery, a young shining-eyed
ascetic, whose intellectual faculties were more extraordinary than those of any of
the other wise men in the community but who nevertheless was unable to attain
a state of serene meditation. Sometimes the genius even cursed his intelligence
and declared it useless. The man suffered from perpetual restlessness, which
could not be allayed. Apollonius had inquired the identity of this ascetic and the
reason for his sufferings. "He suffers from an injustice done him in a previous
life," was Iarchas' answer, "and is possessed by the spirit of Palamedes.
Palamedes was the greatest and the wisest of the Greeks. His name is forgotten
now and his tomb long abandoned, and Homer makes no mention of him in his
history of the Trojan War.
Apollonius undertook to repair the injustice Fate had done to the spirit of
Palamedes, though he only acted according to the instructions he had received
from the wisemen. He had learned from Iarchas the art of imprisoning in objects
spiritual influences that had the power to act at a distance and across time. In
certain places, preferably sanctuaries which already contained magnetic
influences of religious origin, he was to lay talismans intended to perpetuate the
active force which had been enclosed in them. Similarly, in ancient tombs or
sacred chambers he would find talismans that had been laid there by former
messengers of the spirit.
The tombs of heroes long retain in their stones, in the leaves of surrounding
trees, in their solitary atmosphere, the ideal of the man who has become dust.
That is the reason why pilgrims who cross the earth in fulfillment of a vow and
prostrate themselves before the monument of some revered person, always
bring back in their empty hands immaterial riches which they alone can see. A
little later Christianity was to revive these practices of ancient magic and extend

their use enormously with the worship of the saints and the adoration of relies.
But Christianity never found out the secret of Apollonius' wisdom because it
turned its back on him.
Apollonius' first thought after reaching Smyrna was to go to Troy. His travels in
India had increased his fame, and many disciples accompanied him. They
embarked with him on a ship which carried them to the coast of Ionia opposite
Lesbos, not far from the little port of Methymna. They arrived at sunset in a
deserted bay, and Apollonius requested to be left alone on shore in order that he
might meditate in the hour before dawn, when the thoughts of the spirits of the
dead and of higher powers reach men pure enough to receive them. It was in this
place that Palamedes lay buried.
Palamedes, of whose very name Homer was unaware, was a poet and the
scholar who had been the victim of Ulysses, the man of action. Palamedes had
invented different methods of calculation, fire-signals, and the game of chess,
and was the most inventive of all the Greeks, but he had been stoned before the
walls of Troy through a false accusation of treason brought by Ulysses. The
clever Palamedes had detected Ulysses' feigned madness, and Ulysses, out of
revenge, forged a letter from Priam, King of Troy, and hid it in Palamedes' tent,
whereupon Palamedes was stoned to death for treason. That this great man's
creative intelligence should have gone unappreciated; that the winged gifts of this
inventor of science and beauty should have been stifled by jealousy -- and no
reparation made after his death -- was a human travesty that it was necessary to
set right, a blot on the history of mankind that would become greater as men's
culture progressed, and which it was the duty of a wise man's hand to wipe out.
At dawn Apollonius indicated the spot near the sea where they were to dig, and a
statue of Palamedes, a cubit high, was found. It was set up in its former position,
in which Philostratus, two centuries later, bears witness that he saw it. The statue
of the unappreciated hero standing opposite the sea was for long a proof to
travelers interested in the memorials of primitive Greece that sooner or later
justice is done to those who have lit the first lamps of enlightenment. And
perhaps in a cell in the abode of wise men, a taciturn ascetic felt an unfamiliar
consolation fall on him like a ray of, the Ionian sun.
Where did Apollonius, during his travels throughout the world, lay the talismans
whose mystical radiations were to ensure man's spirituality? Is it to him that the
impression is to be ascribed that one feels at Paestum (where he stayed), before
the now deserted Temple of Neptune? The man who breathes in its silence,
touches its Pentelican marble, even now finds himself compelled to look within
himself, where, in the depths of his heart, he catches a glimpse of another
deserted temple, set before a sea that is not so definite as the Mediterranean. It
is the same with the Lerin Islands, where Apollonius stayed because he thought
that that favored spot off the Gallic coast was to become a center of future

civilization. Here, soon after his visit, was founded the monastery of SaintHonorat, which has endured through the centuries to this day.
The murmur of the cypresses along the grand avenue at Saint-Honorat is
different from elsewhere, the color of the stones seem luminescent; and if you
lean over the well you feel the vibration of the eternal verities of life. Is this the
result of the magic of Apollonius? All that can be said is that he applied, or tried
to apply, a method the transcendence of which eludes us today.
The ostensible and most easily intelligible aim that Apollonius pursued was that
of unifying creeds, explaining symbols, showing the spirit behind the images of
the gods of paganism, suppressing sacrifice and external forms, in order that all
worship might participate in the Hermetic union with divinity. For this purpose, he
went to all the holy places, in Syria, Egypt, Spain; he even reached the rock of
Gades, which later was to become Cadiz, and was, according to Pliny, the last
part of the continent that escaped the catastrophe of Atlantis.
The Miracles of Apollonius
Everywhere Apollonius received almost divine honors and legends about him
grew up everywhere. His capacity for clairvoyance enabled him to make
predictions that were verified by events and which had the effect of increasing his
fame. He had no difficulty in escaping Nero's persecution of philosophers, and
his admirers said that when confronted with the tribunal that was to try him, he
was able, through his Hermetic art, to erase the writing on the document on
which his indictment was written. He acted as counselor to Vespasian. He
recognized the real nature of a possessed woman, who, in the form of a beautiful
girl, incited his disciple Menippus to pleasure in order to drink his blood. He
recognized also the spirit of a recently dead and much-mourned king in a tame
lion which was herbivorous, and very gentle and affectionate. He restored the
true idea of love to a rich madman, who wished solemnly to marry a statue. He
exorcised a lecherous demon that caused an inhabitant of Corcyra to attack all
women he met. He healed a man who had just been bitten by a mad dog, but he
pursued the mad dog a long way in order to heal it, too, by plunging it into a river,
which everyone saw as a sign of exceptional kindness of heart.
Imprisoned by the evil Emperor Domitian but unexplainably acquitted by the court
which tried him, Apollonius disappeared in front of everyone in the court, possibly
by using some trick of collective suggestion. Once, when in a garden in Ephesus,
Apollonius saw by clairvoyance the murder of Domitian in Rome. "Strike the
tyrant, strike him!" he cried joyfully, as though to encourage the distant murderer.
While such an act shows that he did not profess the forgiveness of all offences, it
also demonstrates his belief that he could will reality itself to change. Certainly,
the miracles of Apollonius were so numerous that some of them must have been
done for the purpose of dazzling his followers or proving the reality of the spiritual

realm to disbelievers. It seems as if he made use of knowledge of natural laws

that were still unknown to his contemporaries.
The Death of Apollonius
At last, after a thousand natural miracles, so easily accomplished, when he was
more than eighty years old, he accomplished the "miracle" of his own death. It
was indeed a great miracle, for everyone believed him immortal and that he
would never die. But perhaps after all, this miracle was not accomplished, for at
the end of his life, simply disappeared without leaving a trace. The phenomenon
of his disappearance on his deathbed seems to have been particularly pleasing
to him. He did not fail to contrive at the moment of his death, the longest
disappearing act of all. Some say that one evening he left his house in Ephesus,
where he lived with two servants, and never entered it again. Others assert that
the disappearance of his physical body took place in a temple of Dictynna, where
he was spending a night in meditation. No one has ever heard of the tomb of
Apollonius, just as no one knows where Pythagoras died. Several Roman
Emperors who admired Apollonius, notably Caracalla, who put up a temple to
him, investigated the matter in vain.
It should be noted that eleven centuries later there lived in Spain an Arab
philosopher named Artephius, who claimed to be Apollonius of Tyana. This
Artephius lived in Granada and Cadiz, where Apollonius had stayed for a long
time. He stood in very high reputation among the Hermetic philosophers of his
day, who came from the most distant countries in order to consult him. Like
Apollonius, he professed the Hermetic vision and Pythagorean philosophy and
studied the art of compounding talismans and divination by the characters of the
planets and the song of birds. He had been able, he insisted, to prolong his life in
a miraculous way by means of his knowledge of the Philosopher's Stone.
The Backlash Against Him
The world, for the spiritual development of which he worked so enthusiastically,
has not done Apollonius full justice. He was surrounded with hatred as well as
with admiration. He made too many prophecies, even though they were precisely
realized, performed too many marvelous tricks. The mediocre minds that create
the reputations of great men insist that virtue shall be muffled in tedium and that
it shall not be illumined by anything of the marvelous. If a man lacks the audacity
or has too much sincerity to present himself as a god, he must be content to
remain within the limits of honest humanity. If the philosophers glorified
Apollonius, the Christian world contrasted him with his contemporary, Jesus.
While the ecclesiastical historians for centuries, even down to our own times,
have made his name a synonym for charlatan and trickster -- with such a tenacity
that should suffice to prove his greatness of soul!

Renan, the last of these ecclesiastical historians, after calling him " a sort of
Christ of paganism," retracts his words and says: "If Apollonius had been sincere,
we should know him through Pliny, Suetonius, or Aulus Gellius, as we know
Euphrates, Musonius and other philosophers." But Renan forgets that neither
Pliny nor Suetonius nor Aulus Gellius speaks of Jesus, whom, for all that, he
regards as a sincere man. Apollonius never entered a temple without saying this
prayer: "Grant, 0h gods, that I may have little and feel the need of nothing." For
contempt of riches is a wonderful touchstone of man's sincerity and virtue.
So, Apollonius was a sincere man who taught the existence of One Mind and the
immortality of the soul, but he taught it with caution (in which he resembled
Buddha), saying that it was useless to discuss too far this question and that of
man's destiny after death, because he considered that that part of the truth which
was known to him was too deceptive for those who had not experienced higher
truths directly. "When the body is exhausted," he said, "the soul soars in ethereal
space, full of contempt for the harsh, unhappy slavery it has suffered. But what
are these things to you? You will know them when you are no more."
For him wisdom was "a sort of permanent state of inspiration." To attain that
state, he prescribed chastity, a diet of herbs and fruit, and clothes as pure as the
body and soul. Apollonius was a sincere man who labored to separate the
spiritual essence of his being and unite it with the divine spirit. He ascribed an
important role in this process to the imagination, using it as a path to selfdevelopment. He discerned in the smile on the face of a statue, the spirit that lies
behind form. He regarded material things, the contour of a landscape, the color
of rivers and of stars, the multiform earth, as the symbols of another, purer world,
of which they were but the reflections.
"I shall continue to speak with you as though you were present," Apollonius had
said as he left his Indian masters. Was it their words that he heard at a distance
or was it by divine inspiration that he received his great influx of wisdom? Even in
Domitian's darkest dungeon, there was a moment when a certain fluidity in the
atmosphere indicated the light of a mysterious inner dawn. The world grew more
silent, the walls became thinner, and an inner voice, wise beyond time and
matter, perhaps spoke to him thus:
"The greatest are those who never find their place, in times that are unpropitious
to them. Nothing of the good that a man has done, and, more particularly,
nothing of the good that he has thought, is lost, even if he is imprisoned or
crucified for that good. But be not as the Hindu ascetic, who was unable to forget
injustice. Because the words of the master Jesus will burn like a living flame
deep into the hearts of Western humanity, you will be cursed and forgotten. You
will be contrasted with him, and for centuries, pious men will speak of you as a
juggler or a mountebank. But if you rise to the region where neither justice nor
injustice exists, you will know that this is a matter of small importance. It will be
necessary for you to share also Jesus' own sorrow, which is very great, for he

has been a thousand times more misunderstood than you, a thousand times
worse betrayed. Make ready to approach God on the day that is appointed in the
Great Book without lettering. Then perhaps you will be crowned with the glory
that you so ardently desired."

The Chemical Arcana

The Great Secrets
The medieval alchemists believed that the Emerald Tablet described the action
of seven chemical compounds known to the ancients as the arcana or "great
secrets." The arcana were the divine secrets of creation, the basic archetypes
after which all things were patterned. The chemical arcana were the compounds
that expressed these eternal truths in the physical world. The properties of these
compounds symbolized the highest philosophical truths, as well as
demonstrating basic physical principles.
Vitriol
The most important compound, the one in which all other reactions took place,
was Vitriol. It was distilled from an oily, green substance that formed naturally
from the weathering of sulfur-bearing gravel. After this Green Vitriol was
collected, it was heated and broken down into iron compounds and sulfuric acid.
The acid was separated out by distillation. The first distillation produced a brown
liquid that stunk like rotten eggs, but further distillation yielded a nearly odorless,
yellow oil called simply Vitriol. The acid readily dissolves human tissue and is
severely corrosive to most metals, although it has no effect on gold. It also shows
a tremendous thirst for water. If a flask of Vitriol is allowed to stand open, it
absorbs water vapor from the air and overflows its container. The sulfuric acid in
Vitriol is the agent of transformation in most alchemical experiments.
Green Vitriol in its natural state is a powerful disinfectant, but the alchemists also
made therapeutic use of the iron compounds produced when it was heated. As
far back as 1500 BC, Egyptians smelted iron ore and knew its therapeutic value.
They used powdered rust (iron oxide) to heal wounds and prepared a tonic from
iron sulfate, a by-product of the distillation of Vitriol.
Natron
The Egyptians also accumulated the white salts from dry lakebeds. Known as
soda ash (sodium carbonate), the oldest deposits are in the Sinai desert. Another
naturally-occurring sodium compound mined by the Egyptians was cubicsaltpeter (sodium nitrate). The alchemists referred to both these salts as Natron
(from the Arabic word for soda ash), because they suspected that both had a

common elemental basis. To the early alchemists, the word Natron stood for the
basic principle in all salt formation and the creation of bodies in general.
Liquor Hepatis
Liquor Hepatis was the name given to another sulfurous liquid used by the
alchemists. It was prepared by distilling a solution of sulfur, lime, and sal
ammoniac. They secured lime (calcium oxide) by heating limestone and made
sal ammoniac (ammonium chloride) by gently heating camel dung in sealed
containers. The distillation for Liquor Hepatis produced a combination of
hydrogen sulfide and ammonia gases. Since no solids precipitated, alchemists
considered this an ascending reaction only. That was a significant fact to the
Egyptians, who associated the Liquor with the soul. They believed the soul
resided in the liver, and the reddish-brown color of Liquor Hepatis convinced
them they had isolated the soul's essence. The name comes from "hepar," the
Greek word for liver.
The Liquor exuded an unnatural, pungent odor that the alchemists found quite
mysterious. They assumed it was due to an ethereal presence concealed in the
sulfur and activated by the fertile principle in ammonia. To the Egyptians, the
odor symbolized a soul or a spiritized presence hidden within the liquid. They
solidified that presence by adding wax and fat to Liquor Hepatis and turning it
into a thick paste. The emulsion became known as the Balsam of the Alchemists
or Balsam of the Soul. The possibility of coagulating an invisible potential into a
second body, like a balsam, became a basic tenet of alchemy.
Pulvis Solaris
If Liquor Hepatis represented soul, then Pulvis Solaris represented spirit. The
"Powder of the Sun" was a mixture of two powders, Black Solaris and Red
Solaris. Combining black antimony with sulfur auretum made Black Pulvis
Solaris. Black antimony was a common sulfide of antimony, now known as
stibnite. The mineral was smelted and ground fine. Pure sulfur auretum, or
"golden sulfur," was made by adding sulfuric acid to a dried mixture of sodium
carbonate, sulfur, lime, and antimony. The reaction gave off hydrogen sulfide
gas, while the sulfur auretum precipitated to the bottom of the container.
Red Pulvis Solaris was made by combining sulfur auretum with a compound of
mercury known as red mercuric oxide. Mercury, called quicksilver by the
ancients, could be found weeping through cracks in certain rocks or
accumulating in small puddles in mountain grottos. It was also obtained by
roasting cinnabar (mercury sulfide). The shiny metal would seep from the rocks
and drip down into the ashes, from which it was later collected. The early
alchemists made red mercuric oxide by heating quicksilver in a solution of nitric
acid. The acid, which later alchemists called "aqua fortis," was made by pouring
sulfuric acid over saltpeter. The reaction of quicksilver in nitric acid is impressive.

A thick red vapor hovers over the surface and bright red crystals precipitate to
the bottom. This striking chemical reaction demonstrated the simultaneous
separation of mercury into the Above and the Below.
Mercury
Mercury's all-encompassing properties were exhibited in other compounds too. If
mercury was heated in a long-necked flask, it oxidized into a highly poisonous
white powder (white mercuric oxide) and therapeutic red crystals (red mercuric
oxide). Calomel (mercury chloride) was a powerful medicine, unless it was
directly exposed to light, in which case it became a deadly poison. When mixed
with other metals, liquid mercury tended to unite with them and form hardened
amalgams. These and other properties convinced alchemists that mercury
transcended both the solid and liquid states, both earth and heaven, both life and
death. It symbolized Hermes himself, the guide to the Above and Below.
Sulfur auretum showed a strong "love" for either red mercuric oxide or black
antimony. As soon as it was mixed with either, they clumped together
inseparably. For this reason, alchemists classified Red Pulvis Solaris as a
bezoar, which is a hard clump of undigested food or solid ball of hair sometimes
found in the intestines. In the Middle Ages, physicians thought the mass
protected people from poisons and actually prescribed it to their patients.
Egyptian priests discovered bezoars during the preparation of mummies and
believed the hard balls were magical pills formed by the large serpent in man (the
intestines). Some modern Hermeticists have suggested that the Egyptians also
looked for a similar pill in the small serpent in man (the brain) and found it there
in the form of the pineal gland. This pine-shaped gland is imbedded with tiny
crystals of dark melanin, and could explain the Egyptian pinecone emblems and
the origin of the caduceus. It is possible that these two anatomical curiosities
became the basis of the alchemists' preoccupation with the search for the
Greater and Lesser Stones in later centuries.
In any case, Egyptian alchemists associated the serpent with the red mercuric
oxide and referred to Red Pulvis Solaris as Pulvis Serpentum. In the same way
that bezoars were formed in the serpentine contours of the intestines, so was
gold formed in the bowels of the earth. Gold was a mineral bezoar. This
connection between red mercuric oxide and the formation of gold would convince
later alchemists that Red Pulvis Solaris was indeed the powder of projection that
would enable them to transform virtually anything into pure gold.
Major and Minor Arcana
The early alchemists divided their chemicals into major and minor arcana. The
major arcana consisted of the four compounds: Vitriol, Natron, Liquor Hepatis,
and Pulvis Solaris. Three out of the four consisted of dual ingredients that were
easily separable. Vitriol could be broken down into sulfuric acid and iron. Natron

appeared as sodium carbonate and sodium nitrate. Pulvis Solaris was made up
of the red and black varieties. Thus, the seven chemicals comprising the minor
arcana were: Sulfuric Acid, Iron Oxide, Sodium Carbonate, Sodium Nitrate,
Liquor Hepatis, Red Pulvis Solaris, and Black Pulvis Solaris.
The Arcanum Experiment
The alchemists believed that these secret chemicals could be combined in the
Arcanum Experiment, the single laboratory experiment that would demonstrate
the archetypal forces and evolution of the universe. Ideally, such an experiment
should succeed on many levels, not only corroborating the deepest philosophical
and psychological principles, but also providing concrete evidence of their
veracity. The Arcanum Experiment should expose the hidden principles
connecting heaven and earth, offering a framework in which to explain both
microcosmic and macrocosmic events. In order to understand how the Arcanum
Experiment proceeds, all we have to do is follow the words of the Emerald
Tablet.
Rubric One
In truth, without deceit, certain, and most veritable, the tablet begins. This is not
mere hyperbole. On the personal level, "in truth, without deceit" is a promissory
preamble that what follows comes from the true heart of its author. Beyond that is
the "certain and most veritable" knowledge that can be verified by anyone in this
experiment and in all levels of their lives. the tablet begins. This is not mere
hyperbole. On the personal level, "in truth, without deceit" is a promissory
preamble that what follows comes from the true heart of its author. Beyond that is
the "certain and most veritable" knowledge that can be verified by anyone in this
experiment and in all levels of their lives.
Rubric Two
That which is Below corresponds to that which is Above. And that which is Above
corresponds to that which is Below, to accomplish the miracles of the One Thing.
This is the first rubric of the tablet, which introduces the first two compounds
used in the Arcanum Experiment. The alchemists described natural phenomena
as an interplay of four basic elements: Water (liquids), Earth (solids), Air (gases),
and Fire (the temperature of transformation). According to the Jewish alchemists,
the first element in creation must be Water and the second must be Earth, as
described in Genesis. Greek alchemists were in agreement but based their
decision on the so-called Water Transformation Experiment. In this empirical
demonstration, standing water evaporates and leaves behind mineral deposits;
therefore water contains earth and preceded it. The Egyptian alchemists also
agreed, since they felt that the Nile River gave birth to Egypt every year. By the
time the Europeans were doing alchemy, the ordering of the first two elements of
Water and Earth was well established. Vitriol and Natron were natural

compounds, and Water and Earth were the corresponding cosmological

archetypes or "givens." This is the first rubric of the tablet, which introduces the
first two compounds used in the Arcanum Experiment. The alchemists described
natural phenomena as an interplay of four basic elements: Water (liquids), Earth
(solids), Air (gases), and Fire (the temperature of transformation). According to
the Jewish alchemists, the first element in creation must be Water and the
second must be Earth, as described in Genesis. Greek alchemists were in
agreement but based their decision on the so-called Water Transformation
Experiment. In this empirical demonstration, standing water evaporates and
leaves behind mineral deposits; therefore water contains earth and preceded it.
The Egyptian alchemists also agreed, since they felt that the Nile River gave birth
to Egypt every year. By the time the Europeans were doing alchemy, the
ordering of the first two elements of Water and Earth was well established. Vitriol
and Natron were natural compounds, and Water and Earth were the
corresponding cosmological archetypes or "givens."
So, in the Arcanum Experiment, Vitriol was the primary compound and superior
element (or Water) and Natron was the secondary, inferior element (or Earth).
When the two chemicals are mixed together, Natron settles to the bottom and a
slight steaming occurs. The Natron then slowly disperses through the acid (what
is Below becomes like that which is Above). In the microcosmic viewpoint of the
experiment, Vitriol was Above and Natron was Below, and by their mixture, they
served to bring the wonders of this part of the experiment into existence. On a
macrocosmic scale, they represented the forces of Water and Earth. On that
higher level, they served to bring the wonders of the universe into existence. The
final Vitriol-Natron solution was known as the Occult Water and corresponded to
the primordial waters of creation.
The first rubric continues: And as all things have come from this One Thing,
through the meditation of One Mind, so do all created things originate from this
One Thing through Transformation. This is an elaboration of the image of the
primordial Occult Water. To the Greeks, the One Thing was the Prima Materia,
the First Matter from which all things evolved or transformed. To the Jewish
alchemists, the One Thing represented the primal forces gathered by God at the
beginning of Genesis. "The meditation of One Mind" was a way of describing the
Greek logos, which in Judaism was the creative Word of God.
Rubric Three
Its father is the Sun; its mother the Moon. The Wind carries it in its belly; its nurse
is the Earth. The pronoun "it" in these lines from the second rubric refers to the
One Thing of the previous paragraph. On the level of the experiment, this might
be paraphrased as: "Vitriol is the active Sun or father of the Arcanum, Natron is
the passive Moon or its mother. Vitriol is formed by the weathering of rocks, and
Natron is mined from the Earth." The pronoun "it" in these lines from the second
rubric refers to the One Thing of the previous paragraph. On the level of the

experiment, this might be paraphrased as: "Vitriol is the active Sun or father of
the Arcanum, Natron is the passive Moon or its mother. Vitriol is formed by the
weathering of rocks, and Natron is mined from the Earth."
The third rubric continues: It is the origin of All, the consecration of the Universe.
Its inherent strength is perfected, if it is turned into Earth. On a macrocosmic
level, the One Thing is the origin of all things and its essence is perfected when it
is transformed into a material body. On the level of the experiment, this reads:
"The active nature of Vitriol is the source of all changes in the experiment; the
potential of Natron is achieved when it is transformed into an inert Salt."
Rubric Four
Now we come to the crucial fourth rubric: Separate the Earth from Fire, the
Subtle from the Gross, gently and with great Ingenuity. This rubric describes the
mixing of the final pair of arcana, Liquor Hepatis and Pulvis Solaris. Since these
are not natural compounds, it is necessary to prepare them in a laboratory using
heat. But the early alchemists were in disagreement as to the elemental
constitution of these two remaining compounds. In keeping with the ordering of
the first rubric, they believed there must be a superior element with a Water
component and an inferior element with an Earth component. Obviously, Liquor
Hepatis contained the Water element and Pulvis Solaris contained the Earth
element. However, it took many years before the Egyptian, Jewish, and Greek
alchemists could all agree about which represented Fire and which represented
Air. In Alexandria around 50 BC, they finally concurred that the spiritized Liquor
Hepatis contained the elements Air and Water, and the reactive Pulvis Solaris
contained the elements Fire and Earth.
The alchemists saw in the fourth rubric a formula for what happens when the
Pulvis Solaris is added to the Liquor Hepatis. The powder sinks to the bottom
and starts bubbling, releasing a warm, red steam. The bubbling action causes
the powder to repeatedly rise to the top of the Liquor and then sink back down
again. After the reaction is over, a red precipitate accumulates on the bottom.
This is a similar process to the creation of the Red Solaris, which is formed by
heating mercury in nitric acid. In that reaction, red steam is formed, and red
crystals fall to the bottom. Another parallel is the creation of Liquor Hepatis,
which is produced by repeated distillations of a dark, sulfurous solution. So, in all
reactions involving Pulvis Solaris and Liquor Hepatis, what ascends is a reddish
gas, and what descends are red precipitates.
Let us review the instructions in the fourth rubric. "Separate the Earth from Fire"
calls for the Earth element to be separated from the Fire element in Pulvis
Solaris. "Separate the Subtle from the Gross" calls for the Air (Subtle) element to
be separated from the Water (Gross) element in Liquor Hepatis.

The fourth rubric continues: It rises from Earth to Heaven, and descends again to
Earth, thereby combining within Itself the powers of both the Above and the
Below. On the level of the experiment, this not only describes what happens
when the Liquor Hepatis and Pulvis Solaris are mixed together, but also what
happens when that mixture is added to the Vitriol and Natron solution prepared
earlier. As the mixture of the four arcana is heated, the chemicals begin to react.
A white cloud of ammonia forms on the surface of the acid and any solids at the
bottom rise to the top and then fall back down again. Further heating causes a
red vapor to form, as the precipitated matter releases gases when it reaches the
surface. This circulatory pattern continues until the reaction plays itself out.
The constituents of the four major arcana have broken down into the seven minor
arcana and recombined to make totally different compounds. By their exchange
of elements, Pulvis Solaris and Liquor Hepatis each received the powers of all
Four Elements (the powers of the Above and the Below) when they were mixed
in a solution of Vitriol and Natron.
Rubric Five
Thus will you obtain the Glory of the Whole Universe. All Obscurity will be clear
to you. This is the beginning of the fifth rubric, which brings all levels of the Four
Elements of the Four Arcana together in a Fifth Element, the Quintessence. Thus
have we obtained the "Glory of the whole Universe" by understanding the
operation of the Four Elements on all levels: in this experiment, in nature, in our
own minds, and spiritually. The statement that "All Obscurity will be clear to you"
points beyond the Four Elements to knowledge of the One, the perfected soul,
the Quintessence that rules over all of them.
In fact, a chemical compound corresponding to the Quintessence must have
been produced in the Arcanum Experiment for this multi-leveled allegory to be
complete. After the final reaction is over, the only thing that remains is a weak
solution of sulfuric acid and a variety of sodium compounds. The alchemists
believed that the Quintessence was one of these sodium compounds, a "second
body" of Natron formed during the experiment. This fifth essence was beyond the
Four Elements and exhibited a durability and permanence the other elements
lacked. To the alchemists, these inert salts represented a resurrected and
incorruptible body.
This perfected body is described in the remainder of the fifth rubric: This is the
greatest Force of all powers, because it overcomes every Subtle thing and
penetrates every Solid thing. So the fifth rubric refers to the Quintessence of the
experiment in both a microcosmic and a macrocosmic sense. It is both the inert
Salt and the glorified Body of a perfected soul, which will enable us to be at home
in heaven and on earth.
Rubric Six

In this way was the Universe created. From this comes many wondrous
Applications, because this is the Pattern. This sixth rubric refers back to the first
rubric, which describes the primal separation of the Above and the Below, as well
as the separation of compounds in the Arcanum Experiment. As all things
originate from One Thing through transformation, so do the wonders of the
experiment proceed from the mixing of Vitriol and Natron, which created the
Occult Water. "This is the Pattern" refers specifically to the formula of perfection
demonstrated in the Arcanum Experiment and in all of nature. This sixth rubric
refers back to the first rubric, which describes the primal separation of the Above
and the Below, as well as the separation of compounds in the Arcanum
Experiment. As all things originate from One Thing through transformation, so do
the wonders of the experiment proceed from the mixing of Vitriol and Natron,
which created the Occult Water. "This is the Pattern" refers specifically to the
formula of perfection demonstrated in the Arcanum Experiment and in all of
nature.
Rubric Seven
Therefore am I called the Thrice Greatest Hermes, having all three parts of the
wisdom of the Whole Universe. The name mentioned in the seventh and final
rubric is that of Hermes Trismegistus, the Egyptian scribe and sage who lived
around 2500 BC. He is said to have invented writing and mathematics and was
the first alchemist. As a god, he certainly became three-times great: he was
associated with the Egyptian god Thoth, the Greek god Hermes, and the Roman
god Mercury.
Just as the actions of the alchemical God created three hidden principles in the
creation of the universe, later alchemists discovered three hidden principles in
the unfolding drama of the Arcanum Experiment. They would name these three
philosophical chemicals Mercury, Sulfur, and Salt. This trinity of subtle elements
formed the core of alchemical thought for centuries and gave alchemists "all
three parts of the wisdom of the Whole Universe."
Herein have I completely explained the Operation of the Sun. So ends the
seventh rubric. The Operation of the Sun is the spiritual unfolding of the universe.
It reveals itself in the maturing of metals into gold and also in the perfection of the
human soul. The goal of alchemy is to discover the Arcanum, the single
substance that will speed-up this process and reveal the Quintessence of man
himself his incorruptible, immortal, golden body. To the alchemist, everything
in the universe is part of the divine art of making gold.

The Axioms of Alchemy

1. Whatever may be accomplished by a simple method should not
be be attempted by a complicated one.

There is only one Truth, whose existence requires no proof, because it is of itself
proof enough to those who are capable of perceiving it. Why should we enter into
complexity to seek for that which is simple? The sages say: Ignis et Azoth tibi
sufficiunt (the Fire and the First Matter are sufficient). The body is already in your
possession. All that you require is the Fire and the Air.

2. No substance can be made perfect without long suffering.

Great is the error of those who imagine that the Philosopher's Stone can be
hardened without being first dissolved; their time and labor is wasted.

3. Nature must be aided by art whenever she is deficient in power.

Art may be the handmaid of nature, but cannot supplant her mistress. Art without
nature is always unnatural. Nature without art is not always perfect.

4. Nature cannot be amended except in her own self.

The nature of a tree cannot be changed by trimming the branches or by the
addition of ornaments; it can be improved only by improving the soil upon which it
grows or by grafting. These are operations of art.

5. Nature enjoys, comprehends, and overcomes Nature.

There is no other actual knowledge than the knowledge of self. Every being can
only truly realize its own existence but not that of any element entirely foreign to
it.

6. He who does not know motion does not know Nature.

Nature is the product of emotion. At the moment in which eternal motion should
cease, all Nature would cease to exist. He who does not know the motions that
are taking place in his body is a stranger in his own house.

7. Whatever produces the same effect as is produced by a

particular compound is similar to the latter.
The One is greater than all the rest of the numbers, for from it an infinite variety
of mathematical magnitudes may be evolved. Yet no change is possible without
the all-pervading presence of the One, whose qualities are manifest in its
manifestations.

8. No one ran pass from one extreme to another except through a

medium.

An animal cannot became divine before it becomes human. That which is

unnatural must become natural before its nature can become spiritual.

9. Metals cannot be changed into other metals without having been

first reduced to First Matter.
The self-will, opposed to the divine Will, must cease before the divine Will can
enter into the heart. We must become unsophisticated, like children, before the
wind of wisdom can speak in our mind.

10. The unripe must be assisted by the ripe.

Thus Fermentation will be induced. The Law of Induction rules in all departments
of nature.

11. In the Calcination, the Corpus (body) is not reduced but

augmented in quantity.
True asceticism consists in giving up that which one does not want after having
received something better.

12. In alchemy nothing can bear fruit without having first been
mortified.
The Light cannot shine through matter unless the matter has become sufficiently
refined to allow the passage of its rays.

13. That which kills produces life; that which causes death causes
resurrection; that which destroys creates.
Nothing does come out of nothing. The creation of a new form is conditioned by
the destruction (transformation) of the old one.

14. Everything containing a seed may be augmented but not

without the assistance of Nature.
It is only through the seed that the fruit bearing more seeds comes into
existence.

15. Each thing is multiplied and augmented by means of a male

and a female principle.
Matter produces nothing unless penetrated by power. Nature creates nothing
unless impregnated by Spirit. Thought remains unproductive unless rendered
active by Will.

16. The virtue of each seed is to unite itself with each thing
belonging to its own kingdom.
Each thing in Nature is attracted by its own nature represented in other things.
Colors and sounds of a similar nature form harmonious units; substances that
are related with each other can be combined; animals of the same genus
associate with each other; and spiritual powers unite with their own kindred
germs.

17. A pure womb gives birth to a pure fruit.

Only in the innermost sanctuary of the soul will the mystery of the spirit be
revealed.

18. Fire and heat can only be produced by motion.

Stagnation is death. The stone thrown into the water forms progressively
radiating circles, which are produced by vibrating motion. The soul that cannot be
moved cannot be elevated, and it becomes petrified.

19. The whole method is begun and finished by only one method:
the Boiling.
The great Arcanum (Secret of Secrets) is a celestial spirit, descending from the
sun, the moon, and the store, and which is brought into perfection in the
saturnine object by continuous boiling until it attains the state of sublimation and
power necessary to transform the base metals into gold. This operation is
performed by the Secret Fire. The separation of the subtle from the gross must
be done carefully, adding continually Water, for the more earthly the materials
are, the more must they be diluted and made to move. Continue this process
until the separated soul is re-united with the body.

20. The entire process is accomplished through nothing else but

Water.
It is the same Water over which the Spirit of God moved in the Beginning, when
darkness was upon the face of the deep.

21. Each thing comes from and out of that into which it will be
resolved again.
That which is earthy comes from the Earth; that which belongs to the star is
obtained from the stars; that which is spiritual comes from the Spirit and returns
to God.

22. Where the true principles are absent, the results will be
imperfect.
Mere imitations cannot produce genuine results. Merely imaginary love, wisdom,
and power can only be effective in the realm of pompous illusions.

23. Art begins where Nature ceases to act.

Art accomplishes by means of Nature the which Nature is unable to accomplish if
unaided by art.

24. The Hermetic art is not attained by a great variety of methods,

for the Stone is only One.
There is only one eternal, unchangeable Truth. It may appear under many
different aspects; but in that case it is not the Truth that changes, it is we who
change our modes of conceiving of it.

25. The substance of which the Arcanum is prepared should he

pure, indestructible, and incombustible.
It should be pure of grossly material elements, indestructible by doubt, and
incapable of being burned up in the fire of passion.

26. Do not seek for the seed of the Philosopher's Stone in the
Elements.
Only at the center of the fruit is the seed to be found.

27. The substance of the Philosopher's Stone is mercurial.

Those that are wise are seeking for it in the Mercury of their lives; the fool seeks
to create it out of his own empty brain.

28. The seed of the metals is in the Metals, and the metals are born
of themselves.
The growth of the metals is very slow, but it may be hastened by the addition of
patience.

29. Use only perfect metals.

Crude Mercury, such as is usually found in civilized countries, is perfectly useless
for this work, just as worldly wisdom is foolishness in the eyes of the Lord.

30. That which is hard and thick must be made subtle and thin by
Calcination.
This is a very painful and tedious process because it is necessary to remove
even the root of evil, and this causes the heart to bleed and tortured Nature to cry
out.

31. The foundation of this art is to reduce the Corpora (body) into
the Argentum Vivum (Quicksilver or the Living Mercury).
Solutio Sulphuris Sapientium in Mercurio (The sulfuric solution produces
mercurial wisdom). A science without life is a dead science; an intellect without
spirituality is only a false and borrowed light.

32. In the solution, the solvent and the dissolved must remain
together.
Fire and Water must be made to combine; thought and love must remain forever
united.

33. If the seed is not treated with warmth and moisture, it will be
useless.
Coldness contracts and dryness hardens the heart, but the Fire of divine love
expands it, and the Water of thought dissolves any residue.

34. The Earth produces no fruit unless moistened repeatedly.

No revelation takes place in the darkness except through the Light.

35. The moistening takes place by the Water with which it has the
closest affinity.
The body itself is a product of thought, and has therefore the closest affinity with
the mind.

36. Everything dry naturally tends to attract the moisture that it

requires to become complete in its constitution.
The One, from which all things me produced, is perfect; and therefore all things
contain within themselves the tendency and possibility for perfection.

37. A seed is useless and impotent unless it is put in its

appropriate matrix.

A soul cannot develop and progress without an appropriate body, because it is

the physical body that furnishes the material for its development.

38. Active heat produces in that which is moist blackness; in that

which is dry, whiteness; and in that which is white, a yellowness.
First comes mortification and Calcination, and afterwards the golden glow
produced by the Light of the Secret Fire illuminating the purified soul.

39. The Fire must be moderate, uninterrupted, slow, equal, moist,

warm, white, light, all-embracing, enclosed, penetrating, living,
inexhaustible, and the same one used by Nature.
It is the Fire that descends from heaven to bless all mankind.

40. All operations must take place in only one vessel without
removing it from the Fire.
The substance used for the preparation of the Philosopher's Stone should be
collected only in one place and not be dispersed in many places. If the gold has
even once lost its brightness, it is difficult to restore it.

41. The vessel should be well closed, so that the Water may not
run out of it nor the Air escape. It ought to be hermetically sealed,
because if the spirit were to find a place to escape, the power
would be lost. And furthermore should it be closed, so that nothing
foreign and impure can enter and become mixed with it.
There should always be put at the door of the laboratory a sentinel with a flaming
sword to examine all visitors, and to reject those that are not worthy to be
admitted.

42. Do not open the vessel until the moistening is completed.

If the vessel is prematurely opened, most of the labor is lost.

43. The more the Stone is nursed and nourished, the more will it
increase.
Divine wisdom is inexhaustible; limitation exists only in the capacity of the form to
receive it.

Interpretation of Azoth of the Philosophers (by Dennis William Hauck)

This meditative emblem first published in 1659 as an illustration for the book Azoth of the
Philosophers by the legendary German alchemist Basil Valentine. The word "Azoth" in the title is
one of the more arcane names for the One Thing. The "A" and "Z" in the word relate to the Greek
alpha and omega, the beginning and end of all things. The word is meant to embrace the full
meaning of the One Thing, which is both the chaotic First Matter at the beginning of the Work and
the perfected Stone at its conclusion.
At the center of this striking drawing is the face of a bearded alchemist at the beginning of the
Work. Like looking into a mirror, this is where the adept fixes his or her attention to meditate on
the mandala. Within the downward-pointing triangle superimposed over the face of the alchemist
is the goal of the Work, the divine man in which the forces from Above and Below have come
together. Each of the sequentially numbered points on the star emanating from the alchemist
stands for an operation in the Emerald Formula (Calcination, Dissolution, Separation,
Conjunction, Fermentation, Distillation, and Coagulation) and contains the cipher for the
corresponding metal. To see an explanation of these operations, click on the appropriate point on
the star.

The alchemists schematized body is the offspring of the marriage between Sol, the archetypal
Sun King seated on a lion on a hill to his right, and Luna, the archetypal Moon Queen seated on a
great fish to his left. "Its father is the Sun," says the tablet, "its mother the Moon." The laughing,
extroverted Sun King holds a scepter and a shield indicating his authority and strength over the
rational, visible world, but the fiery dragon of his rejected unconscious waits in a cave beneath
him ready to attack should he grow too arrogant. The melancholy, introverted Moon Queen holds
the reins to a great fish, symbolizing her control of those same hidden forces that threaten the
King, and behind her is a chaff of wheat, which stands for her connection to fertility and growth.
The bow and arrow she cradles in her left arm symbolize the wounds of the heart and body she
accepts as part of her existence. In simplest terms, the King and Queen represent the raw
materials of our experience -- our thoughts and feelings -- with which the alchemist works.
The King symbolizes the power of thought, ultimately the One Mind of the highest spirit. The
Queen stands for the influence of feelings and emotions, which are ultimately the chaotic One
Thing of the greater soul. The much anticipated Marriage of the King and Queen produces a state
of consciousness best described as a feeling intellect, which can be raised and purified to
produce a state of perfect intuition, a direct gnosis of reality. "All Obscurity will be clear to you,"
says the tablet of this state of mind; it is "the Glory of the Whole Universe." The goal of alchemy is
to make this golden moment permanent in a state of consciousness called the Philosophers
Stone, and it all starts with the marriage of opposites within us.
In our drawing, the body of the alchemist is composed of the Four Elements. His feet protrude
from behind the central emblem; one is on Earth and the other in Water. In his right hand is a
torch of Fire and in his left a feather, symbolizing Air. Between his legs dangles the Cubic Stone
labeled with the word Corpus, meaning body. The five stars surrounding it indicate that it also
contains the hidden Fifth Element, the invisible Quintessence whose "inherent strength is
perfected if it is turned into Earth." Where the head of the alchemist should be, there is a strange
winged caricature that is variously interpreted as a heart, a helmet, or even the pineal gland at the
center of the brain. The symbol evolved from the Winged Disk of Akhenaten and became the top
of the Caduceus, the magical wand of Hermes where opposing energies merge to produce
miracles. This knob represents the Ascended Essence, the essence of our souls raised to the
highest level in the body, to the brain, where it becomes a mobile center of consciousness able to
leave the body and travel to other dimensions.
Touching the wings of the caduceus are a salamander engulfed in flames on the left side of the
drawing and a standing bird on the right. Below the salamander is the inscription Anima (Soul);
below the bird is the inscription Spiritus (Spirit). The salamander, as a symbol of soul, is attracted
to and exposed in the blazing fire of the Sun. Likewise, the bird of spirit is attracted to the
coolness of the Moon and is reflected in it. This is a subtle statement of the fundamental bipolar
energies that drive the alchemy of transformation. Spiritus, Anima, and Corpus form a large
inverted triangle that stands behind the central emblem. Together they symbolize the three
archetypal celestial forces that the alchemists termed Sulfur, Mercury, and Salt. Again, these
chemicals are not chemicals at all, but our feelings, thoughts, and body.
- from THE EMERALD TABLET (Penguin 1999) by Dennis William Hauck

Christian Alchemy: Christ the Stone

God Is Fire
God is the all-essential and hidden Fire in all things, especially in living things.
That Fire generates all things. It has generated them, and will generate them in
the future, and that which is generated is the true divine light through all eternity.

God is a Fire; but no fire can burn, and no light appear within nature without the
addition of air to cause the combustion, and likewise the Holy Spirit in you must
act as a divine Air or breath or inspiration, coming out of the divine Fire and
fanning the Fire within your soul, so that the Light will appear, for the Light must
be nourished by the Fire, and this Light is love and gladness and joy within the
eternal deity.
Christ: Light of God's Fire
In Christianity, this Light is Christ, having emanated from eternity through God.
He who does not have this Light of consciousness within himself is in the Fire
without Light and lives in darkness and hellfire. But if the Light is in a person,
then is divine consciousness in him or her, and takes form in him or her. Such a
person will recognize that Light as it exists in nature. All manifested things are in
their interior Fire and Light, wherein is hidden the essence of the spirit.
Therefore, all things are a trinity of Fire, Light, and Air. In other words, the Great
Spirit, the father, is a divine super-essential Light; the Light having become
manifest; the Holy Spirit is a divine super-essential Air and motion. The Fire
resides within the heart and sends its rays through the whole body of man,
causing it to live; but no light is born from the Fire without the presence of the
spirit of holiness from which it sprang.
The Breath of God
So all things have been made by the power of the divine Word, which is the
divine spirit or breath that emanated from the divine fountain in the Beginning.
This breath is the universal spirit and is called the Spiritus Mundi. It was at first
like Air, then contracted into a fog or nebular substance and afterwards became
Water. This Water was at first all spirit and life, because it was permeated by and
made alive by the spirit. It was dark in its depths, but through the outspoken
Word, Light became generated therein, and then the darkness was illumined by
the Light, and the soul of the world (the Anima Mundi) had its beginning. This
spiritual Light, which we call Nature or the soul of the world, is a spiritual body,
which by means of alchemy can be made tangible and visible. But since it exists
in an invisible state, therefore is it called spirit.
Spirit of the Universe
This is a universal and living fluid diffused throughout all of Nature that pervades
all beings. It is the most subtle of all substances and the most powerful on
account of its inherent qualities, penetrating all bodies and causing the
manifested forms in which it is active to become alive. By its action, it frees the
forms of imperfections and renders the impure pure, the imperfect perfect, and
causes that which is mortal to become immortal by becoming fixed therein.
The Elements of Nature

This essence or spirit has emanated front the center in the Beginning and is
incorporated into the substance of which the world is formed. It is the "Salt of the
Earth" and without its presence, the grass would not grow nor the fields be green;
and the more this essence is condensed, concentrated, and coagulated in the
manifested forms, the more enduring will they became. This substance is the
most subtle of all things -- incorruptible, unchangeable in its essence, pervading
the infinity of space. The sun and the planets are merely condensed states of this
universal principle, and they distribute their abundance from their throbbing
hearts and send them into the forms of the lower worlds and into all beings,
acting through their own centers and leading the forms higher up on the read to
perfection. The forms in which this living principle becomes fixed become perfect
and permanent, so that they will neither rust nor decay nor be changed on being
exposed to the Air; neither can such forms be dissolved by Water, nor be
destroyed by Fire, nor eaten up by the matter of Earth.
This spirit ran be obtained in the same manner in which it is communicated to the
earth by the stars; and this takes place by means of Water, which serves as its
vehicle. It is not the Philosopher's Stone, although the latter may be prepared
from it by causing that which is volatile to became fixed. "I admonish you to pay
strict attention to the boiling of this Water, and not to allow your mind to be
disturbed by things of minor importance. Boil it slowly, and let it putrefy until it
attains the proper color, for in the Water of Life is contained the germ of wisdom.
By the art of boiling, the Water will became transformed into Earth. This Earth is
to be changed into a pure crystalline fluid, from which an excellent red Fire is
produced. But this Water and Fire, grown together into one essence, produces
the great Panacea, composed of both meekness and strength: the Lamb and the
Lion united in one. The Lapis of the alchemists, the Philosopher's Stone, is the
Son of God.
The Tablets of Moses
The creation of the Biblical tablets was an alchemical event in which the Word of God was
written in matter.
But are the Ten Commandments that have been passed down to us really an exoteric
interpretation in terms of Man's law?
According to some sources, the original Emerald Tablet was given to Miriam, the sister of
Moses, who hid it in the Ark of the Covenant.

Psalm 19
(The Alchemical Psalm)

1: The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.
2: Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge.
3: There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard.
4: Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them
hath he set a tabernacle for the sun,
5: Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a
race.
6: His going forth is from the end of the heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it: and there is
nothing hid from the heat thereof.
7: The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making
wise the simple.
8: The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the LORD is pure,
enlightening the eyes.
9: The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the LORD are true and
righteous altogether.
10: More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and
the honeycomb.
11: Moreover by them is thy servant warned: and in keeping of them there is great reward.
12: Who can understand his errors? cleanse thou me from secret faults.
13: Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me:
then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression.
14: Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O
LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.

Christian Rosenkreutz
The Youth of Christian Rosenkreutz
In Southern France there are certain districts covered with pine groves that are
periodically ravaged by fires. Often the pines grow again, and where before there
was nothing but calcined dust, you may see, some years later, a new forest of
resinous trees. But sometimes, as though the violence of the fire had reached the
very seeds themselves, the hill that was once covered with trees remains bald
and barren for many years. Then suddenly, on the top of the hill, there springs up
a single tree, which, strangely full of life, rises solitary as though to attest the lost
presence of a dead forest that flourished there at one time.
Likewise, out of the great Albigensian forest region, which was cut down, burned
and reduced to ashes, there survived but one man, who was to perpetuate the
perennial philosophy of all men by transforming it. Like the solitary pine on the
hill, he plunged his vigorous thought deep into the human soil of his time and saw
it rise high into the blue heaven of the centuries with its foliage of books. From
the Albigenses, there sprang in the middle of the thirteenth century, the wise man
known today under the symbolic name of Christian Rosenkreutz, who was the
last descendant of the German family of Germelshausen.
So intense was the desire to suppress the heresy that grew up around this
peaceful man that not only were the bodies of his followers destroyed but also

the stones of the houses that had sheltered them, and the documents that might
have enshrined their thought. Besides, these Hermeticists very soon realized that
their only chance of survival lay in wrapping themselves in obscurity, hiding
under false names, corresponding in cipher. Today, their history can no longer be
traced except under the disguise of legend. But a man who has left so deep a
mark after a life so obscure and so lacking in wonders and miracles cannot have
been created by legend. Discretion, modesty, unostentatious goodness,
knowledge without parade -- these are not the attributes of a legend. Christian
Rosenkreutz is as real a figure as Jesus or Buddha; their attributes may be
considered more glorious, but their historical foundation is scarcely more secure.
The original Albigensian doctrines had spread fragmentarily to the north of
France, the Low Countries and Germany. Families of refugees had found their
way there. Solitary men had escaped, begging their way, from the sunny land in
which they were thenceforward outlaws and accursed. Many of them died. But
some reached the distant countries where the vine does not grow, where the
rivers are more rapid and the sun less hot. And some of them gave an account of
what they had heard in their low houses under the shelter of the ramparts of
Toulouse or in the shadow of Montsegur; they imparted to others what was still a
flaming truth in their hearts. A few of them were understood. Little nuclei of
Albigenses formed round a preacher, a spare, brown-faced man, who looked like
a Saracen. The seed carried by the wind was thus to germinate in the country to
which chance had brought it.
Under the influence of wandering Albigensians, the doctrine crossed the firgrown mountains and flowered in the Rheon district, on the border of Hesse and
Thuringia. In the middle of the Thuringian forest stood the castle of
Germelshausen. The men who inhabited it were a grim, sullen family, halfbrigands, whose Christianity was mixed with pagan superstitions. They spent
their time fighting their neighbors, and they did not disdain to ambush and rob
travelers. They venerated an idol of worn stone, the origin of which was unknown
to them. It was probably the fruit of some long-past pillaging expedition. It might
have been a Greek statue of Athena. It stood in the courtyard of the castle beside
the chapel door.
The period was the middle of the thirteenth century. Germany had just been
devastated by a fanatical Dominican, Conrad of Marburg, envoy of Pope Gregory
IX. Another Dominican, Tors, carried on his work. He was accompanied by a
one-eyed layman called Jean, who claimed that his single eye had been given
the divine faculty of distinguishing at first glance a heretic from a good Christian.
Almost all who came within the field of view of this terrible eye were marked with
the sign of heresy. It was no doubt enough for him to catch a glimpse, through
the rocks and firs, of the towers of the castle of Germelshausen to discover from
the color of its stone that it sheltered a brood of heretics. Perhaps something of
the power of the eternal spirit was given off from the ancient statue that stood in
the courtyard. Count Conrad of Thuringia, who had razed to the ground the little

town of Willinsdorf, decided on the destruction of the castle. He besieged it

several times, at intervals of some years. The castle fell at last, and the whole
family of Germelshausen (which now adhered to the mystical doctrine of the
Albigenses, practiced its austerities, and believed in reincarnation and in the
Coagulated Body that delivers from reincarnation) was put to death at the final
assault.
The youngest son, who was then five years old, was carried from the burning
castle by a monk, who had taken up his quarters in the chapel and was struck by
the amazing intelligence shown by the child. This monk, this ascetic dweller in
the chapel of the Germelshausens, was an Albigensian adept from Languedoc,
and it was he who had instructed the family in the Hermetic disciplines. After the
siege, he took refuge in a monastery nearby, into which the breath of heresy had
already penetrated. It was in this monastery that the last of the Germelshausens,
who was to be known by the name of Christian Rosenkreutz, was brought up and
educated. He learned Greek and Latin and, with four other monks of the
community, formed a fraternal group determined to devote themselves to the
search for truth. They made a plan to seek this truth at the source whence it had
always sprung, the East.
The Travels of Rosenkreutz
Two of them started out, Christian Rosenkreutz, who was then fifteen, and one of
the four monks whom the Fama Fraternitatis calls "Brother P.A.L." (The Fama
Fraternitatis was published anonymously in the seventeenth century and is a
crude summary of all that was known at that time of the original Rosicrucians.)
The pretense for their journey was a pilgrimage to the Holy Sepulchre. Their real
aim was to reach a center of initiation, and they no doubt had precise knowledge
as to where it was to be found. However, "Brother P.A.L." died in Cyprus, where
the hazards of travel had led the two companions.
Christian soon continued his journey alone and, no doubt as a result of directions
he had received, made for Damascus. He did so because the tie with the East,
which was about to be broken in the West, still existed there. Just as Apollonius
had learned from the Pythagorean groups among whom he lived the exact
whereabouts of the abode of the earth's wise men, so Christian Rosenkreutz
knew, probably from the adept who had instructed the Germelshausens, that
Damascus lay on the path to initiation.
It cannot have been easy to leave the Christian kingdom of Cyrus for the country
of the infidels. But to him who sincerely seeks truth all religions are alike; and
when he left Christian territory, Rosenkreutz assumed the dress and appearance
of a Muslim pilgrim. At that time Damascus was under the dominion of the
Mamelukes. All the learned men and poets of Persia had taken refuge there from
the invading Mongols under Hulagu. The destruction of Baghdad and Nichapur
and the annihilation of their universities and libraries convinced the intellectuals

of the East that thought was dying. There were rumors of the end of the world.
There had been great earthquakes in Syria and a rain of scorpions in
Mesopotamia. The Mongols occupied Persia and watchers on the ramparts of
Damascus searched the horizon anxiously for the appearance of their advance
guards. The city and its people were uneasy to say the least.
How great must have been Christian's astonishment in the city of the three
hundred mosques to converse among men learned in the literature of the East!
What discoveries for a young man so greedy for knowledge! He read the Guide
of the Erring by Maimonides, the Alchemy of Happiness by Gazali, the Golden
Meadows by Mazoudi. He heard Omar Khayam's poetry recited and made every
effort to understand his books on algebra and Euclid. He discussed astronomy
with the disciples of Nazir Eddin. He meditated on the Masnavi, the sacred book
of the Sufis, and was amazed to find in it the same mystical pantheism of his
spiritual fathers the Albigenses. How barbarous Germany must have seemed to
him amid the intellectual effervescence that surrounded him. In the presence of
the great Arab civilization, now drawing to its close, he understood still more
clearly the necessity for his mission, which was to preserve the truth of spirit and
transmit it to the men of his race.
After several years' study at Damascus, when he had acquired the greatest sum
of knowledge possible to a man whose sole aim is to learn, he thought to obtain
a higher knowledge, for which he was then ripe. The enigmatic name of the place
to which he directed his steps has been preserved by tradition. It was Damcar, in
Arabia. At Damcar, a word that probably designates a "monastery in the sand,"
there was at that time, and possibly there still is, a center of initiates. Damcar
was for him what the abode of wise men was for Apollonius. He remained there
some years, then went to Egypt, crossed the Mediterranean, and visited Fez.
In the reign of Abou-Said-Othman there was in Fez (city of the "six hundred
playing fountains"), a school of astrology and magic. It had become secret since
the persecutions of Abou Yusuf. It was there that Rosenkreutz learned divination
by the stars and certain laws that govern the hidden forces of Nature. But he was
eager now to return to his own country. He soon left Fez and took ship for Spain.
It was probably at this time that he took the name of Rosenkreutz, a symbolic
word that embodied the essence of his beliefs. In Spain, he entered into relations
with the Alumbrados, a secret society that had come into being under the
influence of the Arabs and which studied the sciences and practiced a mystical
philosophy derived from that of the Hermeticists and Neo-Platonists. They were
engaged also in the search for the Philosopher's Stone in accordance with the
writings of Artephius. Not long afterwards, this secret society would be wiped out
by the Inquisition.

His Mission

The Fama Fraternitatis recounts an echo of the disappointment experienced by

Christian Rosenkreutz. He was anxious to communicate to others the new truths
that he was bringing in the domain of science and philosophy. He hoped to set
right mistakes, to transmit with love that which he had learned. But he was
received with scorn and laughter. In every century, half-knowledge has
enveloped pseudo-scholars in an illusion of certainty that prevents them
receiving any new ideas. Before a mediocre mind can grasp an unfamiliar truth,
habituation is necessary, even though the truth be radiant as the sun. It was then
that Christian Rosenkreutz realized that only slowly can wisdom enter the human
heart. He had to remember the persecutions that had struck down too eager
possessors of the truth. And, though he wondered at the time necessary for the
spirit to develop, whereas a flower opens in a single day and a tree reaches its
full height in a single century, he reconciled himself to leaving the acorns to the
pigs and keeping the pearls for the elect few. He considered the fine filters
through which thought must trickle to the men of his race in rare, microscopic
drops, so that they might not be consumed by it. He counted up how many he
would be able to initiate and saw that their number could not be more than eight.
He laid the foundations of an occult group that was so secret and the members
bound together by an oath that was so terrible, that the group was able
subsequently to act as he had ordered, to pursue and attain its aims, for nearly
three centuries without its existence being known, except by vague whisperings.
The curiosity of superficial men who find pleasure in anecdotal history may have
been disappointed by this secrecy. But who could maintain that it is due to the
egoism of a superior minority scorning to enlighten their fellows and share their
knowledge with them? How many men are there in the world in the present day
who are sufficiently free from intellectual pride to entertain an absolutely new
idea? Is not this pride a barrier that precludes even the approach of a new idea?
If Christian Rosenkreutz disembarked today from Fez and tried to explain that the
problem of the unity of matter is linked with the development of love in man -would he not appear ridiculous to every academician in the world? If he tried to
teach, would he not find, on the part of those who wish to learn, this incapacity to
receive? To help him without hope of reward, would he find now, as he found
then, even eight faithful followers?
Christian Rosenkreutz passed through France without leaving any trace. It must
have been about the time when the mystic Marguerite Porete was burned in
Paris, and Christian was probably anxious to get back to Germany. Long years
had passed since he had been there. Germany was affected by all sorts of
mystical currents that sprang from the Albigensian heresy. There were the
Brothers of the Free Spirit, who affirmed the vanity of external cults and
sacraments, denied purgatory and hell, said that man was a fragment of God,
which must, after a long series of lives, return at last to the divine essence. There
were the Friends of God, who aimed at emancipation from desire, and were
addicted to practices analogous to those of the Yoga system, while their
philosophy was modeled closely on Eastern Hermetic philosophy.

But the Church organized its persecution more intensely than these sects
propagated themselves. Christian Rosenkreutz, seeing the number of
imprisonments and burnings, was compelled to weigh the danger into which the
spiritual light brought those among whom it spread. He went back to Thuringia to
find the three monks, who had been the companions of his early studies. They
formed a brotherhood of four members, and the number was increased a little
later to eight. It was at this time that the brotherhood of the Rosicrucians had its
greatest efflorescence and contained a greater number of true initiates than was
ever again reached. All, the members of the brotherhood were Germans, except
the brother designated by the Fama Fraternitatis under the initials "Brother I.A.,"
who came from another country, probably Languedoc.
His Teachings
Christian Rosenkreutz taught his disciples the secret writing and the symbols by
which adepts corresponded with one another. He wrote for their use a book that
was the synthesis of his philosophy and contained a summary of his scientific
and medical knowledge. The role played by the brotherhood seems to have been
to influence the few men in the West who were at that time interested in science,
so that science might be turned in the direction of objectivity (alchemical
Distillation). It is possible that this was the great crossroad of our civilization. If
the aim of the Rosicrucians had been attained, science, instead of being
organized for material ends only, might have been the source of a boundless
development of the spirit. We have seen that it has not been so.
Rosenkreutz made rules for his disciples' life. The first of these rules was
unselfishness, which will always be the most difficult virtue to put into practice.
The men who have a reputation for unselfishness and live among us with a
vague halo of generosity, are only men who are less greedy than others. Nobody
is unselfish. There is not a single example in our modern society of a man big
enough to break the terrible bond of riches and pass readily and unostentatiously
from wealth to poverty, or even from poverty to greater poverty. As soon as the
mind has reached a certain level, it understands that it is in this direction that the
first step must be taken. Yet it does not take that step. One of the bravest men of
all, and one most deeply convinced of the virtue of poverty -- Tolstoy -- made up
his mind only a few hours before his death to become a wandering beggar. But
he was too late, like most of us.
Another essential rule was absence of pride. The Rosicrucian had to pass
unnoticed, might not pride himself on his knowledge, had to remain so far as
possible anonymous. For the ordinary man, modesty is as impossible to practice
as poverty. It is even a matter of common observation that great intellectual
faculties are almost always accompanied by a form of stupid, boastful vanity. And
this very vanity is regarded with favor as the sign of genius.

The third rule of the Rosicrucians was chastity. Wise men have always attached
great importance to chastity, though neither Pythagoras nor Socrates nor Plato
nor the Alexandrine philosophers practiced it rigorously. Possibly it is nothing
more than a preventive measure against excess and against the violence
generated by such desires. Logically, if pleasure in eating is not forbidden there
is no reason why the pleasure of sex should be forbidden. And these two orders
of physical pleasures are in some degree comparable. In the ordinary man they
are both equally indispensable to life. Yet while eating involves only the physical
pleasure arising out of a good digestion, the other, if practiced with a person who
is loved, contains marvelous possibilities of pleasure and may even be a path to
perfection in itself. Only, at present, nothing is commonly known of this path. The
laws that teach how a high spiritual level may be attained through community of
desire and its mutual satisfaction have not yet been written by any modern
master. I have never heard even of there being any oral teaching on that subject.
A prudishness that is as old as the world has cut short with a command of silence
the forward impulse that humanity might have received through the flesh.
The men, designated by the symbol of the rose and cross, traveled all over the
world, each one with a mission to fulfill. But with one exception nothing was ever
heard of them again. "Brother I.A.," according to the Fama, returned to Southern
France, where it may have been his task to rekindle the old Albigensian flame.
But he must by that time have been very old. Did he succeed in resuscitating the
ancient sect with the same secrecy that surrounded the Rosicrucians? Tradition
reports only that he died near Narbonne.
Historically, nothing is known of the activities of Rosenkreutz himself during the
last part of his life, that is to say, at the beginning of the fourteenth century. It
may, however, be supposed, without great fear of error, that he inspired Jean de
Mechlin, who preached in Northern Germany, and that at Brussels he was the
source of truth from which the mystic Bloemert drew. This inspired woman
performed miraculous cures and published writings in which she taught the
liberation of one's inner being through love. Her disciples asserted that on either
side of her they saw a seraph, or angel who advised her.
It was in all probability Christian Rosenkreutz who was the mysterious visitor (as
to whose identity so much has been written) of Johann Tauler. Johann Tauler
was the most celebrated doctor of theology of his time. The learned world of
Europe came to Strasbourg to hear his sermons. One day he was visited by a
layman whose name he never divulged and who converted him to a mystical
philosophy, the ideal of which was absorption into the divine essence. For two
years, he kept silence and became a member of the Friends of God. This sect
possessed the same characteristics as the Albigenses: It rejected as the
expression of evil the cruel god of the Old Testament; it condemned marriage
and taught poverty as a practical means of divine realization.
The Death of Rosenkreutz

Of the death of Christian Rosenkreutz nothing is known. As in the case of

Apollonius of Tyana, no burial place can be determined. It was a rule among the
adepts to maintain secrecy with regard both to their birth and to their death. Was
it merely to avoid the violation of the grave and the profanation of the body to
which the Church condemned heretics? Or could it be to permit the transference
of their spirit into another human body and thus prevent even the suspicion of a
secret so astounding to ordinary men?
There has come down to us nothing more than an unsubstantiated legend
regarding the burial place of Christian Rosenkreutz. Two and a half centuries
after his death, at the time when the story of his life was beginning to become
known, his disciples, or rather men who would have wished to be his disciples,
asserted that they had found a geometrically proportioned cave, in which rested,
bathed in artificial sunlight, the still intact body of the master.
In all times men have wished that those whom they considered greater than
themselves should not die in the flesh. They attach less importance to the
permanence of their spirit, although of course that is the only possible form of
eternity for them. Thus, when the bodies of Catholic or Muslim saints are found,
they are said to emit a pleasant odor. But the true fragrance given off by the
bodies of wise men in the silence of the earth and in corruption is made of no
material quintessential atom, no perfumed volatilization. The subtle radiations of
their soul float over the places where they lie and impregnate them long after the
bodies have ceased even to be dust. But you must yourself be a wise man to
establish connection with this posthumous life; and if your perception allows you
to catch a glimpse of the fact that the best cannot escape the law, it will also
make you feel more deeply the sadness inherent in the changes of life and
death.
The Rise of the Rosicrucians
At the beginning of the seventeenth century there arose a sort of Rosicrucian
mania. The Fama Fraternitatis and the Confessio published, in a naive form,
what ordinary men knew of the sect of Rosicrucians -- which indeed was
extremely little. A great many philosophers and scholars, as well as many
impostors, attracted by the sublime philosophy of the Rosicrucians, claimed to be
their followers. Secret societies were formed, which very soon ceased to be
secret owing to the vanity of their members, who boasted of their membership.
Most of these groups, when they were not Lutheran, bowed to the authority of the
Church. Most alchemists considered themselves Rosicrucians, owing to the
philosophy's Hermetic viewpoint. Descartes tried to establish contact with the
genuine brotherhood of Rosicrucians, and he searched for them in the Low
Countries and in Germany, but on his return to France said he had not been able
to find out anything definite about the group.

It has been asserted that Paracelsus, Francis Bacon and Spinoza were all
Rosicrucians; but there seems to be little proof of this. In the eighteenth century,
a new grade, that of the Rosicrucian Degree, was introduced into Freemasonry
by the Jesuits, who had made their way inside the movement and everywhere
formed groups within it. The hardy independence of the heresies of the thirteenth
century had completely disappeared. The so-called Rosicrucians recognized the
sacraments, studied the Old Testament as the source of all truth, acknowledged
the power of the Church and the infallibility of the pope. Is this not the line of
development that all spiritual currents follow? The tree produces a beautiful
flower, a perfect fruit, and falls victim to an obscure force that poisons the sap
and kills the living tree.
Nonetheless, the true Rosicrucians carried on their work. Their brotherhood has
never ceased to remain secret. Through the self-sought obscurity of each
member, no one ever knew the identity of those who belonged to the
brotherhood. From the assertion of certain men that they were Rosicrucians, the
one sure inference was that they were not members of the sect founded by
Christian Rosenkreutz. The influence of this free spirit was felt in the seventeenth
and eighteenth centuries by all who struggled against the tyranny of Calvinism
and Lutheranism, which were as intolerant as the Inquisition, and against the
intransigence of the universities, which tried to submit all thought to the
intellectual discipline of Aristotle. But the messengers remained faithful to their
vow not to make themselves known. The message reached its destination, but it
was not known who had brought it to light.
Certain characteristics in the lives of certain men may, however, give rise to the
supposition that they were the true possessors of the Rosicrucian tradition.
Paracelsus practiced medicine gratuitously; his philosophy was Neo-Platonic and
Hermetic; he wore only very unpretending clothes and exalted poverty; upon his
appointment as professor of surgery by the senate of Bile, he burned in the
amphitheater before the students the old medical books, which were believed in
blindly but which, owing to the respect in which they were held, were actually an
obstacle to the search for truth. Philalethes, who possessed the secret of the
Philosopher's Stone, traveled all over the world to heal the sick; his continual
preoccupation was to escape the fame that his cures brought him. Although the
Comte de Saint-Germain had a fondness for precious stones, he may, for other
reasons, be numbered among the true Rosicrucians. Yet the same conclusion
cannot be drawn in the case of Spinoza from the simple facts that his seal was in
the form of a rose and that he did not sign his work. Too zealous writers have
assigned to the Rosicrucians every remarkable figure of the last few centuries.
In 1888, Stanislas de Guaita and Papus founded the cabalistic Order of the Rosy
Cross, with a ceremonial, grades and, possibly, special dress. These facts,
together with the stir that they made over this foundation, were sufficient
indication that the new order was not inspired by the tradition of its original
founder. The same may be said of the Catholic Order of the Rosy Cross founded

by Josephin Peladan at the same time. These orders had only an ephemeral life.
At the present day there can still be found various groups, almost all of them
Christian, calling themselves Rosicrucians, but they do not correspond to any
reality based on initiation.
The only true Rosicrucians -- the eight heirs who have followed one another in
unbroken succession of the Albigensian Christian von Germelshausen -- have
carried on their secret work uninterruptedly. Perhaps those who first breathed in
the perfume of the spiritual rose and savored its delicate truth, considered the
game lost, they abandoned the races that strove only for material well-being and
retired into the inaccessible solitude of the Himalayas and elsewhere. But a
game in which the stake is divine can never be lost. Possibly the true
Rosicrucians left Europe at one time and have since returned. The legend of
them, after providing one of the chief topics of conversation among European
intellectuals, died down after the French Revolution. At the present day it
interests only a small number of seekers after knowledge. The eight wise men
have returned to their task, though this task has become excessive. By what
means are they seeking to accomplish it now?
Sometimes it needs very little to turn a human soul in a new and better direction.
It may happen that the reading of a book is enough, or a chance word that you
hear, or even the face of a kind man that you catch a glimpse of one evening that
reminds you that good exists. Each one of us, when the moment has come or
when he or she asks with sufficient intensity, may meet one of the eight
wandering wise men. Let him not be in a bad temper that day, or inattentive, or
tired. Wisdom is not capricious, as luck is; but it visits us much less often. He
who sees the branches of the cross Open towards the four cardinal points of the
spirit, may take the wrong road, may go backwards, may be for the time
overwhelmed by ignorance. But he who holds his anchorage in the storm, he
sees the light on the hilltop; sooner or later he will once more find the right way.
All glory to the messenger who found this safety-giving signal and fixed it in wood
or stone that it might be transmitted to others! All glory to the messenger who,
through the virtue of the symbol, created the possibility that the truth should be
preserved. He has added name and number to the milestone; he has been the
comfort of the traveler, the safety of the lost wanderer.
The Rosicrucians took the union of the rose and the cross for their symbol
because this union embodies the meaning of their effort and emphasizes the fact
that that effort must be made by all men. For immemorial ages, the wisest among
us have discovered that the aim of humanity on earth is to attain divine wisdom.
Only two ways lead to this divine wisdom: knowledge and love. The cross is the
oldest symbol in the world. Ever since the appearance of the earliest civilizations,
it has denoted mind or spirit moving towards perfection since it divides reality into
the Below and the Above. The rose symbolizes love because by its perfume,
color, and delicacy; it is Nature's masterpiece of beauty, and beauty excites love,
just as love transforms into beauty the elements on which it is bestowed. By the

rose blooming in the middle of the cross, the whole meaning of the universe is
explained. The truth shines out with splendor for all with a deeper sense of
knowing. In order to realize his possibilities and become perfect, mankind must
develop his capacity for love to the point of loving all creatures and all forms
perceptible to his senses; he must enlarge his capacity for knowledge and
understanding to the point of comprehending the laws that govern the worlds,
and of being able to proceed, through his intuition and the loving intelligence of
his heart, from every effect to every cause.
The Symbol of the Rosy Cross
He who reaches higher knowledge through an enlarged intelligence and intuition
will be able to love only those persons and things whose machinery he
understands, whose movements he truly sees, whose passions he comprehends
as though they were his own. He who reaches the state of perfect love through
the emotional impetus of the heart will see the barriers of ignorance fall before
him and will conquer knowledge by the bestowal of himself on that which he
loves. For the two ways meet and at a certain level become one.
The symbol of the Rosy Cross is well-founded and eternal, and there will be no
need of any other for thousands of human evolutions. Every man can weigh
himself up by reference to the rose and cross and can find in it a provisional
touchstone of good and evil. It is the interrogation point which is formed in many
consciences, though they may not confess it to themselves. What is good and
what is evil? Am I right to do something that seems good from my point of view
and evil from that of others? Naturally the rose and cross cannot serve as a key
to every riddle, for there are too many doors in the darkness of the soul. The
agonizing question that every man asks himself at least once in his lifetime and
most men ask themselves a thousand times, the question whether it is more
important to develop oneself or to help others, whether it is better to sacrifice
oneself or to progress by study, remains unsettled. But the two ever-present
symbols give man the framework of an answer, if he is sincere with himself.
Whenever a man becomes identified through love with that totality of universes
that we call God, or with a landscape, or with some creature, though it be only a
dog, he is on the way of the rose, protected by it and enriched by its substance.
Whenever he emerges from his ignorance, learns a fact or a law, allows his mind
to go a little farther in knowledge of reality, he is progressing towards that superterrestrial and super-celestial point at which the cross stretches forth its four
spiritual branches.
That is the message that Christian Rosenkreutz brought to the West. It is a
message that may seem very modest to professional skeptics (who are
convinced that they possess all knowledge and consider hatefulness more
important than love). But it was brought very humbly by a messenger who gloried
in concealing his name and who, after journeying for more than a century to

transmit his little truth, has left no other trace of his passing than the design of the
open flower at the center of the cross.

Circulation of the Light

Chinese alchemists became proficient at spiritual Distillation thousands of
years ago. In a discipline called Circulation of the Light, the aspirant is taught to
concentrate on the light of the inmost region and, while doing so, to free himself
from all outer and inner entanglements. The basic practice in the Circulation of
the Light is known in Taoist alchemy as The Microcosmic Orbit or The Lesser
Heavenly Cycle (as opposed to the greater cycle of the rotation of stars and the
constellations). The light that is circulated is the chi guided by mind through an
alchemical laboratory within the body that consists of three cauldrons or furnaces
(known as tan tien or elixir fields) that purify and refine the energy in a process
of Distillation.
The first of these inner cauldrons is the Lower Tan Tien, which is situated
in the abdomen between the pelvis and navel. It is where the alchemist gathers,
blends, and cooks his or her sexual, vital, and spiritual essences. The operations
carried out here are equivalent to the Western stages of Calcination, Dissolution,
and Separation, which are equivalent to energizing the muladhara (base),
svadhisthana (genital), and manipura (solar plexus) chakras in the Tantric
tradition or the Wheel of Emanation in the Buddhist tradition. Once the energy is
purified sufficiently, it is brought up the primary or Governor Channel along the
back or dorsal of the spine. The Chinese call this solar channel of yang energy
the tu mai, while Tantrists refer to it as the ida.
The Middle Tan Tien cauldron is between the solar plexus and
diaphragm and its energies are associated with the heart, lungs, and throat. This
is where the essences from the purification in the Lower Tan Tien accumulate
and where the soul finds expression. The fundamental essences are further
purified and condensed and eventually move up the Governor (or Solar Channel)
along the back of the spine. The Tantrists saw this cauldron as activating the
anahata (heart) and vishuddha (throat) chakras. In Western alchemy, it is where
the operation of Conjunction takes place.
The Upper Tan Tien is known as the Crystal Palace. This precious
cauldron at the center of the brain is also called the Sacred Square Inch, the
Heavenly Heart, or the Cavity of Spirit. It is where the higher self or spirit from
Above dwells. Sufi alchemists call this the ruh; Jewish alchemists call it ruach,
while for the Tantrists, it is seen as an activation of the ajna (brow) and sahasrara
(crown) chakras. In Western alchemy, it is where the operations of Fermentation,
Distillation, and Coagulation take place. In the cabala, this center corresponds to
the Sefirah Daat, located on the Middle Pillar (or spine) between Binah (at the
back of the head) and Hokmah (in the forehead area).
In physiological alchemy, the Upper Tan Tien is associated with the center
of the brain where the pineal gland is located. When this gland is activated, it is

said to become illuminated like thousands of shining crystals, able to receive light
(as energy and knowledge) from the universe. In Taoist alchemy, this is called
the Mysterious Gate (hsuan kuan). In Tibetan Buddhism, this is the source of
the White Drop that descends to the heart center, where it mixes with the
ascending Red Drop attain an enlightened body and mind. All this activity is
seen as a cosmic sex act in the head. The phallic-shaped pineal gland releases a
pure white liquid light that impregnates the nearby bi-lobed pituitary gland, which
then releases hormones in the blood that inaugurate a Second (Spiritual) Puberty
in the body.
This final stage is not accomplished in just a single round of operations but
must continue until all impurities have been eliminated, and the light is in its most
concentrated form. Thus, the purified inner light is returned from the Upper Tan
Tien to the Lower Tan Tien down the secondary Functional Channel along inside
of the spine. The Chinese called this lunar channel of yin energy the jen mai,
which is called pingala by the Tantrists. The energy is then once again guided by
thought and imagination inward to the center of the body, where it is
progressively refined and transmuted through the three cauldrons.
So, essentially, the Circulation of Light is an operation of Distillation in
which the mercurial light of consciousness (or life force) is progressively purified
and concentrated. Try a session of this regimen and see how it feels. In practice,
the initiate repeats the Circulation of the Light daily for months or even years,
until enough of the light collects to crystallize in the cauldron with-in the brain.
According to Chinese alchemists, the subtle matter distilled through this process
congeals into a Golden Pill, which is the adepts passage to perfect health and
even immortality. Western alchemists would call the product of these repeated
distillations the Mother of the Stone. But the goal is the same in both systems:
to create an immortal spirit body (the Stellar Stone or Body of Light) through
which the adept can function on a more evolved plane of existence than in the
ordinary physical body.

Comte Saint-Germain
A Man Beyond His Time
Many average, reasonable men can conceive wisdom only under the boring form
of a sermon and think of the sage only in the semblance of a clergyman. For
such men prudery, hypocrisy, and the most abject enslavement to ritual habit and
prejudice must be the everyday virtues. When therefore it happens that a
genuine sage, by way of amusing himself, mystifies his contemporaries, follows a
woman, or lightheartedly raises his glass, he is condemned eternally by the army
of short-sighted people whose judgment forms posterity.

That is what happened in the case of the Comte de Saint-Germain. He had a

love of jewels in an extreme form, and he ostentatiously showed off those he
possessed. He kept a great quantity of them in a casket, which he carried about
everywhere with him. The importance he attached to jewels was so great that in
the pictures painted by him, which were in themselves remarkable, the figures
were covered with jewels; and his colors were so vivid and strange that faces
looked pale and insignificant by contrast. Jewels cast their reflection on him and
threw a distorting light on the whole of his life.
His contemporaries did not forgive him this weakness. Nor did they forgive him
for keeping for an entire century the physical appearance of a man of between
forty and fifty years old. Apparently a man cannot be taken seriously if he does
not conform strictly to the laws of nature, and he was called a charlatan because
he possessed a secret which allowed him to prolong his life beyond known
human limits.
His Lifestyle
Saint-Germain seems also to have been free personally from the solemnity in
which men of religion and philosophers wrap themselves. He enjoyed and sought
the company of the pretty women of his day. Though he never ate any food in
public, he liked dining out because of the people he met and the conversation he
heard. He was an aristocrat who lived with princes and even with kings almost on
a footing of an equal. He gave recipes for removing wrinkles and dyeing hair. He
had an immense stock of amusing stories with which he regaled society. It
appears from the memoirs of Baron von Gleichen that when Saint-Germain was
in Paris he became the lover of Mademoiselle Lambert, daughter of the Chevalier
Lambert, who lived in the house in which he lodged. And it appears from
Grosley's memoirs that in Holland he became the lover of a woman as rich and
mysterious as himself.
At first sight all this is incompatible with the high mission with which he was
invested, with the part he played in the Hermetic societies of Germany and
France. But the contradiction is perhaps only apparent. His outward appearance
of a man of the world was necessary in the first place for the purposes of the
secret diplomacy in which Louis XV often employed him. Moreover, we often
have an erroneous conception of the activities of a master. The possession of an
"opal of monstrous size, of a white sapphire as big as an egg, of the treasures of
Aladdin's lamp," is a harmless pleasure if these treasures have been inherited or
have been made through the help of miraculous knowledge. It is no great
eccentricity in a man to pull down his cuffs in order to show the sparkle of the
rubies in his links. And if Mademoiselle Lambert had the ideas of her time on the
subject of gallantry, the Comte de Saint-Germain can hardly be reproached for
lingering one night in her room in order to open in her presence the mysterious
jewelcasket and invite her to choose one of those diamonds that were the
admiration of Madam de Pompadour.

For pleasure in life drags a man down only when it is carried to excess. It may be
that there exists a way by which a man may attain the highest spirituality and yet
keep this pleasure. Moreover, on a certain plane, the chain of the senses no
longer exists and kisses cease to burn; a man can no longer harm either himself
or others by virtue of the power that the transformation has wrought in him.
A Man Who Never Dies
"A man who knows everything and who never dies," said Voltaire of the Comte
de Saint-Germain. He might have added that he was a man whose origin was
unknown and who disappeared without leaving a trace. In vain his
contemporaries tried to penetrate the mystery, and in vain the chiefs of police
and the ministers of the various countries whose inhabitants he puzzled, flattered
themselves that they had solved the riddle of his birth.
Louis XV must have known who he was, for he extended to him a friendship that
aroused the jealousy of his court. He allotted him rooms in the Chateau of
Chambord. He shut himself up with Saint-Germain and Madam de Pompadour
for whole evenings; and the pleasure he derived from his conversation and the
admiration he no doubt felt for the range of his knowledge cannot explain the
consideration, almost the deference, he had for him. Madam du Housset says in
her memoirs that the king spoke of Saint-Germain as a personage of illustrious
birth. Count Charles of Hesse Cassel, with whom he lived during the last years in
which history is able to follow his career, must also have possessed the secret of
his birth. He worked at alchemy with him, and Saint-Germain treated him as an
equal. It was to him that Saint-Germain entrusted his papers just before his
supposed death in 1784. However, neither Louis XV nor the Count of Hesse
Cassel ever revealed anything about the birth of Saint-Germain. The count even
went so far as invariably to withhold the smallest detail bearing on the life of his
mysterious friend. This is a very remarkable fact, since Saint-Germain was an
extremely well known figure.
In those days, when the aristocracy immersed itself in the occult sciences, secret
societies and magic, this man, who was said to possess the elixir of life and to be
able to make gold at will, was the subject of interminable talk. An inner force that
is irresistibly strong compels men to talk. It makes no difference whether a man is
a king or a count; all alike are subject to this force, and increasingly subject to it
in proportion as they spend their time with women. For Louis XV and the count to
have held out against the curiosity of beloved mistresses we must presume in
them either a strength of mind that they certainly did not possess or else some
imperious motive which we cannot determine.
His Origins
The commonest hypothesis about his birth is that Saint-Germain was the natural
son of the widow of Charles II of Spain and a certain Comte (Count) Adanero,

whom she knew at Bayonne. This Spanish queen was Marie de Neubourg,
whom Victor Hugo took as the heroine of his Ruy Blas. Those who disliked SaintGermain said that he was the son of a Portuguese Jew named Aymar, while
those who hated him said, in the effort to add to his discredit, that he was the son
of an Alsatian Jew named Wolff. Fairly recently a new genealogy of SaintGermain has been put forward, which seems the most probable of all. It is the
work of the theosophists and Annie Besant, who has frequently made the
statement that the Comte de Saint-Germain was one of the sons of Francis
Racoczi II, Prince of Transylvania. The children of Francis Racoczi were brought
up by the Emperor of Austria, but one of them was withdrawn from his
guardianship. The story was put about that he was dead, but actually he was
given into the charge of the last descendant of the Medici family, who brought
him up in Italy. He took the name of Saint-Germain from the little town of San
Germano, where he had spent some years during his childhood and where his
father had estates. This would give an air of probability to the memories of
southern lands and sunny palaces which Saint-Germain liked to call up as the
setting of his childhood. And it would help to account for the consideration that
Louis XV showed him. The impenetrable silence kept by him and by those to
whom he entrusted his secret would in this event be due to fear of the Emperor
of Austria and possible vengeance on his part. The belief that Saint-Germain and
the descendant of the Racoczis are one and the same is firmly held by many
people, who regard him as a genuine adept and even think he may still be living.
The Comte de Saint-Germain was a man "of middle height, strongly built, and
dressed with superb simplicity." He spoke with an entire lack of ceremony to the
most highly placed personages and was fully conscious of his superiority. Said
Gleichen of the first time he met Saint-Germain: "He threw down his hat and
sword, sat down in an armchair near the fire and interrupted the conversation by
saying to the man who was speaking: 'You do not know what you are saying! I
am the only person who is competent to speak on this subject, and I have
exhausted it. It was the same with music, which I gave up when I found I had no
more to learn.'"
Indeed, many people who heard him play the violin said of him that he equaled or
even surpassed the greatest virtuosos of the period, and he seems to have
justified his remark that he had reached the extreme limit possible in the art of
music.
Saint-Germain was also an accomplished artist. One day he took Gleichen to his
house and said to him: " I am pleased with you, and you have earned my
showing you a few paintings of mine." "And he very effectively kept his word,"
said Gleichen, "for the paintings he showed me all bore a stamp of singularity or
perfection which made them more interesting than many works of art of the
highest order."

However, he seems not to have excelled as a poet. There survive of his an

indifferent sonnet and a letter addressed to Marie Antoinette (quoted by the
Comtesse d'Adhemar) that contains predictions in doggerel verse. At the request
of Madam de Pompadour he also wrote a rather poor outline of a comedy.
The Alchemist
By far the greatest obvious talents of the Comte de Saint-Germain were
connected with his knowledge of alchemy. Yet if Saint-Germain he knew how to
make gold, he was wise enough to say nothing about it. Nothing but the
possession of this secret could perhaps account for the enormous wealth at his
command, though he was not known to have money on deposit at any banker's.
What he does seem to have admitted, at least ambiguously, is that he could
make a big diamond out of several small stones. The diamonds that he wore in
his shoes and garters were believed to be worth more than 200,000 francs. He
asserted also that he could increase the size of pearls at will, and some of the
pearls in his possession certainly were of astonishing size.
If all that he said on this subject was mere bragging, it was expensive, for he
supported it by magnificent gifts. Madam du Hausset tells us that one day when
he was showing the queen some jewels in her presence, she commented on the
beauty of a cross of white and green stones. Saint-Germain nonchalantly made
her a present of it. Madam du Hausset refused, but the queen, thinking the
stones were false, signed to her that she might accept. Madam du Hausset
subsequently had the stones valued, and they turned out to be genuine and
extremely valuable.
His Amazing Youthfulness
But the feature in Saint-Germain's personage that is hardest to believe is his
astounding longevity. The musician Rameau and Madam de Gergy (with the
latter of whom, according to the memoirs of Casanova, he was still dining about
1775) both assert that they met him at Venice in 1710, under the name of the
Marquis de Montferrat. Both of them agree that he then had the appearance of a
man of between forty and fifty years old. If their recollection is accurate this
evidence destroys the hypotheses according to which Saint-Germain was the
son of Marie de Neubourg or the son of Francis Racoczi II, for if he had been, he
would not have been more than about twenty in 1710. Later, Madam de Gergy
told Madam de Pompadour that she had received from Saint-Germain at Venice
an elixir that enabled her to preserve, for a long time and without the smallest
change, the appearance of a woman of twenty-five. A gift as precious as this
could not be forgotten! It is also true, however, that Saint-Germain, when
questioned by Madam de Pompadour on the subject of his meeting with Madam
de Gergy fifty years earlier and of the marvelous elixir he was supposed to have
given to her, replied with a smile: "It is not impossible; but I confess it is likely that
this lady, for whom I have the greatest respect, is talking nonsense.

We can compare with this the offer he made to Mademoiselle de Genlis when
she was a child: "When you are seventeen or eighteen will you be happy to
remain at that age, at least for a great many years?' She answered that she
should indeed be charmed. "Very well," he said very gravely; "I promise you that
you shall." And he at once spoke of something else.
The period of his great celebrity in Paris extended from 1750 to 1760. Everyone
agreed then that, in appearance, he was a man of between forty and fifty. He
disappeared for fifteen years, and when the Comtesse d'Adhemar saw him again
in 1775, she declared that she found him younger than ever. And when she saw
him again twelve years later he still looked the same. While he deliberately
allowed his hearers to believe that his life had lasted inconceivably long, he
never actually said so. He proceeded by veiled allusions.
"He diluted the strength of the marvelous in his stories," said his friend Gleichen,
"according to the receptivity of his hearer. When he was telling a fool some event
of the time of Charles V, he informed him quite crudely that he had been present.
But when he spoke to somebody less credulous, he contented himself with
describing the smallest circumstances, the faces and gestures of the speakers,
the room and the part of it they were in, with such vivacity and in such detail that
his hearers received the impression that he had actually been present at the
scene. 'These fools of Parisians,' he said to me one day, 'believe that I am five
hundred years old. I confirm them in this idea because I see that it gives them
much pleasure -- not that I am not infinitely older than I appear.'"
Tradition has related that he said he had known Jesus and been present at the
Council of Nicea. But he did not go so far as this in his contempt for the men with
whom he associated and in his derision of their credulity. This tradition originates
from the fact that Lord Gower, who was a practical joker, gave imitations at his
house of well-known men of his time. When he came to Saint-Germain, he
imitated his manner and voice in an imaginary conversation that Saint-Germain
was supposed to have had with the founder of Christianity, of whom Lord Gower
made him say: "He was the best man imaginable, but romantic and thoughtless."
About 1760, an English newspaper, the London Mercury, quite seriously
published the following story: "The Comte de Saint-Germain presented a lady of
his acquaintance, who was concerned at growing old, with a vial of his famous
elixir of long life. The lady put the vial into a drawer. One of her servants, a
middle-aged woman, thought the vial contained a harmless purge and drank the
contents. When the lady summoned her servant next day, there appeared before
her a young girl, almost a child. It was the effect of the elixir. A few drops more
and I have no doubt the servant would have answered her mistress with infantile
screams!"
"Has anyone ever seen me eat or drink?" said Saint-Germain, as he was passing
through Vienna, to a Herr Graeffer who offered him some Tokay. Everyone who

knew him agreed in saying that though he liked sitting down to table with a
numerous company, he never touched the dishes. He was fond of offering his
intimate friends the recipe of a purge made of senna pods. His principal food,
which he prepared himself, was a mixture of oatmeal.
But is it really so surprising that the authors of memoirs depict Saint-Germain as
retaining the same physical appearance during a whole century? Human life may
have a duration infinitely longer than that ordinarily attributed to it. It is the activity
of our nerves, the flame of our desire, the acid of our fears, which daily consume
our organism. He who succeeds in raising himself above his emotions, in
suppressing in himself anger and the fear of illness, is capable of overcoming the
attrition of the years and attaining an age at least double that at which men now
die of old age. If the face of a man who is not tormented by his emotions should
retain its youth, it would be no miracle. Not long ago a London medical periodical
reported the case of a woman who at seventy-four had preserved " the features
and expression of a girl of twenty, without a wrinkle or a white hair. She had
become insane as the result of an unhappy love affair, and her insanity consisted
in the perpetual reliving of her last separation from her lover." From her
conviction that she was young she had remained young. It may be that a
subjective conception of time, and the suppression of impatience and
expectation, enable a highly developed man to reduce to a minimum the normal
wear and tear of the body. The Comte de Saint-Germain asserted also that he
had the capacity of stopping the mechanism of the human clock during sleep. He
thus almost entirely stopped the physical wastage that proceeds, without our
knowing it, from breathing and the beating of the heart.
His Careers
Saint-Germain's activity and the diversity of his occupations were very great. He
was interested in the preparation of dyes and even started a factory in Germany
for the manufacture of felt hats. But his principal role was that of a secret agent in
international politics in the service of France. He became Louis XV's confidential
and intimate counselor and was entrusted by him with various secret missions.
This drew on him the enmity of many important men, including, notably, that of
the Duke de Choiseul, the minister for foreign affairs. It was this enmity which
compelled him to leave hurriedly for England in order to escape imprisonment in
the Bastille.
Louis XV did not agree with his minister's policy with regard to Austria and tried
to negotiate peace behind his back by using Holland as an intermediary. SaintGermain was sent to The Hague to negotiate there with Prince Louis of
Brunswick. Monsieur d'Affry, the French minister in Holland, was informed of this
step, and complained bitterly to his minister for foreign affairs that France was
carrying on negotiations that did not pass through his hands. The Duke de
Choiseul seized his opportunity. He sent d'Affry orders demanding the extradition
of Saint-Germain and have him arrested by the Dutch Government and sent to

Paris. This decision was communicated to the king in the presence of his
ministers in council, and Louis, not daring to admit his participation in the affair,
blamed it all on his emissary. But Saint-Germain received warning just before his
arrest. He had time to escape and take ship for England. The adventurer
Casanova gives us some details of this escape; he happened to be in a hotel
near that in which Saint-Germain was staying, and found himself mixed up in a
complicated story of jewels, swindlers, duped fathers and girls madly in love with
him -- a story, in fact, that was typical of the ordinary course of Saint-Germain's
life.
According to Horace Walpole's letters, Saint-Germain had been arrested in
London some years previously on account of his mysterious life. He had been set
free because there was nothing against him. Walpole, a true Englishman, came
to the conclusion that "he was not a gentleman" because he used to say with a
laugh that he was taken for a spy. He was not arrested a second time in England.
Not long after this, he was found in Russia, where he was to play an important
but hidden part in the revolution of 1762. Count Alexis Orloff met him some years
later in Italy and said of him: "Here is a man who played an important part in our
revolution." Alexis' brother, Gregory Orloff, handed over to Saint-Germain of his
own free will 20,000 sequins, an uncommon action, seeing that Saint-Germain
had not rendered him any particular service. At that time he wore the uniform of a
Russian general and called himself Soltikov.
His Prophecies
It was about this period, the beginning of the reign of Louis XVI, that SaintGermain returned to France and saw Marie Antoinette. The Comtesse
d'Adhemar has left a detailed account of the interview. It was to her that he
turned to obtain access to the queen. Since his flight to England, he had not
reappeared in France, but the memory of him had become a legend, and Louis
XV's friendship for him was well known. It was easy, therefore, for the Comtesse
d'Adhemar to arrange a meeting with Marie Antoinette, who immediately asked
Saint-Germain if he was going to settle in Paris again. "A century will pass," was
his reply, "before I come here again."
In the presence of the queen he spoke in a grave voice and foretold events that
would take place fifteen years later. "The queen in her wisdom will weigh that
which I am about to tell her in confidence. The Encyclopedist party desires
power, which it will obtain only by the complete fall of the clergy. In order to bring
about this result, it will upset the monarchy. The Encyclopedists, who are seeking
a chief among the members of the royal family, have cast their eyes on the Duke
de Chartres. The duke will become the instrument of men who will sacrifice him
when he has ceased to be useful to them. He will come to the scaffold instead of
to the throne. Not for long will the laws remain the protection of the good and the
terror of the wicked. The wicked will seize power with bloodstained hands. They
will do away with the Catholic religion, the nobility, and the magistracy."

"So that only royalty will be left," the queen interrupted impatiently.
"Not even royalty. There will be a bloodthirsty republic, whose scepter will be the
executioner's knife."
It is quite plain from these words that Saint-Germain's ideas were entirely
different from those ascribed to him by the majority of historical authors of this
period, nearly all of whom see in him an active instrument of the revolutionary
movement. His terrible and amazing predictions filled Marie Antoinette with
foreboding and agitation. Saint-Germain asked to see the King, in order to make
even more serious revelations, but he asked to see him without his minister,
Maurepas, being told of it.
"He is my enemy," he said, "and I count him among those who will contribute to
the ruin of the kingdom, not from malice but from incapacity."
The king did not possess sufficient authority to have an interview with anybody
without the presence of his minister. He informed Maurepas of the interview that
Saint-Germain had had with the queen, and Maurepas thought it would be wisest
to imprison in the Bastille a man who had so gloomy a vision of the future.
Out of courtesy to the Comtesse d'Adhemar, Maurepas visited her in order to
acquaint her with this decision. She received him in her room.
"I know the scoundrel better than you do," he said. "He will be exposed. Our
police officials have a very keen scent. Only one thing surprises me. The years
have not spared me, whereas the queen declares that the Comte de SaintGermain looks like a man of forty."
At this moment the attention of both of them was distracted by the sound of a
door being shut. The comtesse uttered a cry. The expression on Maurepas' face
changed. Saint-Germain stood before them.
"The king has called on you to give him good counsel," he said; "and in refusing
to allow me to see him you think only of maintaining your authority. You are
destroying the monarchy, for I have only a limited time to give to France, and
when that time has passed I shall be seen again only after three generations. I
shall not be to blame when anarchy with all its horrors devastates France. You
will not see these calamities, but the fact that you paved the way for them will be
enough to blacken your memory."
Having uttered this in one breath, he walked to the door, shut it behind him and
disappeared. All efforts to find him proved useless. The keen scent of Maurepas'
police officials was not keen enough, either during the days immediately following
or later. They never discovered what had happened to the Comte de SaintGermain.

As had been foretold to him, Maurepas did not see the calamities for which he
had helped to pave the way. He died in 1781. In 1784 a rumor was current in
Paris that the Comte de Saint-Germain had just died in the Duchy of Schleswig,
at the castle of the Count Charles of Hesse Cassel. For biographers and
historians this date seems likely to remain the official date of his death. From that
day forward, the mystery in which the Comte de Saint-Germain was shrouded
grew deeper than ever.
His "Death"
Secluded at Eckenforn in the count's castle, Saint-Germain announced that he
was tired of fife. He seemed careworn and melancholy. He said he felt feeble, but
he refused to see a doctor and was tended only by women. No details exist of his
death, or rather of his supposed death. No tombstone at Eckenforn bore his
name. It was known that he had left all his papers and certain documents relating
to Freemasonry to the Count of Hesse Cassel. The count for his part asserted
that he had lost a very dear friend. But his attitude was highly equivocal. He
refused to give any information about his friend or his last moments, and turned
the conversation if anyone spoke of him. His whole behavior gives color to the
supposition that he was the accomplice of a pretended death.
Although, on the evidence of reliable witnesses, he must have been at least a
hundred years old in 1784, his death in that year cannot have been genuine. The
official documents of Freemasonry say that in 1785 the French masons chose him
as their representative at the great convention that took place in that year, with
Mesmer, Saint-Martin, and Cagliostro present. In the following year SaintGermain was received by the Empress of Russia. Finally, the Comtesse
d'Adhemar reports at great length a conversation she had with him in 1789 in the
Church of the Recollets, after the taking of the Bastille.
His face looked no older than it had looked thirty years earlier. He said he had
come from China and Japan. "There is nothing so strange out there," he said, "as
that which is happening here. But I can do nothing. My hands are tied by
someone who is stronger than I. There are times when it is possible to draw
back; others at which the decree must be carried out as soon as he has
pronounced it."
And he told her in broad outlines all the events, not excepting the death of the
queen, that were to take place in the years that followed. "The French will play
with titles and honors and ribbons like children. They will regard everything as a
plaything, even the equipment of the Garde Nationale. There is today a deficit of
some forty millions, which is the nominal cause of the Revolution. Well, under the
dictatorship of philanthropists and orators the national debt will reach thousands
of millions."

"I have seen Saint-Germain again," wrote Comtesse d'Adhemar in 1821, "each
time to my amazement. I saw him when the queen was murdered, on the 18th of
Brumaire, on the day following the death of the Duke d'Enghien, in January,
1815, and on the eve of the murder of the Duke de Berry."
Mademoiselle de Genlis asserts that she met the Comte de Saint-Germain in
1821 during the negotiations for the Treaty of Vienna; and the Comte de
Chalons, who was ambassador in Venice, said he spoke to him there soon
afterwards in the Piazza di San Marco. There is other evidence, though less
conclusive, of his survival. The Englishman Grosley said he saw him in 1798 in a
revolutionary prison; and someone else wrote that he was one of the crowd
surrounding the tribunal at which the Princess de Lamballe appeared before her
execution.
It seems quite certain that the Comte de Saint-Germain did not die at the place
and on the date that history has fixed. He continued an unknown career, of
whose end we are ignorant and whose duration seems so long that one's
imagination hesitates to admit it.
Secret Societies
Many writers who have studied the French Revolution do not believe in the
influence exerted by the Comte de Saint-Germain. It is true that he set up no
landmarks for posterity, and even obliterated the traces he had made. He left no
arrogant memorial of himself such as a book. He worked for humanity, not for
himself. He was modest, the rarest quality in men of intelligence. His only foibles
were the harm less affectation of appearing a great deal younger than his age
and the pleasure he took in making a ring sparkle. But men are judged only by
their own statements and by the merits they attribute to themselves. Only his age
and his jewels attracted notice.
Yet the part he played in the spiritual sphere was considerable. He was the
architect who drew the plans for a work that is as yet only on the stocks. But he
was an architect betrayed by the workmen. He had dreamed of a high tower that
should enable man to communicate with heaven, and the workmen preferred to
build houses for eating and sleeping.
He influenced Freemasonry and the secret societies, though many modem
masons have denied this and have even omitted to mention him as a great
source of inspiration. In Vienna he took part in the foundation of the Society of
Asiatic Brothers and of the Knights of Light, who studied alchemy; and it was he
who gave Mesmer his fundamental ideas on personal magnetism and hypnotism.
It is said that he initiated Cagliostro, who visited him on several occasions in
Holstein to receive directions from him, though there is no direct evidence for
this. The two men were to be far separated from one another by opposite
currents and a different fate.

The Comtesse d'Adhemar quotes a letter she received from Saint-Germain in

which he says, speaking of his journey to Paris in 1789, "I wished to see the work
that that demon of hell, Cagliostro, has prepared." It seems that Cagliostro took
part in the preparation of the revolutionary movement, which Saint-Germain tried
to check by developing mystical ideas among the most advanced men of the
period. He had foreseen the chaos of the last years of the eighteenth century and
hoped to give it a turn in the direction of peace by spreading among its future
promoters a philosophy that might change them. But he reckoned without the
slowness with which the soul of man develops and without the aversion that man
brings to the task. And he left out of his calculations the powerful reactions of
hatred.
All over the country secret societies sprang up. The new spirit manifested itself in
the form of associations. Neither the nobility nor the clergy escaped what had
become a fashion. There were even formed lodges for women, and the
Princesse de Lamballe became grand mistress of one of them. In Germany there
were the Illuminati and the Knights of Strict Observance, and Frederick II, when
he came to the throne, founded the sect of the Architects of Africa. In France, the
Order of the Templars was reconstituted, and Freemasonry, whose grand master
was the Duke de Chartres, increased the number of its lodges in every town.
Martinez de Pasqually taught his philosophy at Marseilles, Bordeaux and
Toulouse; and Savalette de Lange, with mystics such as Court de Gebelin and
Saint-Martin, founded the lodge of the Friends Assembled.
The initiates of these sects understood that they were the depositories of a
heritage that they did not know, but whose boundless value they guessed; it was
to be found somewhere, perhaps in traditions, perhaps in a book written by a
master, perhaps in themselves. They spoke of this revealing word, this hidden
treasure it was said to be in the hands of "unknown superiors of these sects, who
would one day disclose the wealth which gives freedom and immortality."
It was this immortality of the spirit that Saint-Germain tried to bring to a small
group of chosen initiates. He believed that this minority, once it was developed
itself, would, in its turn, help to develop another small number, and that a vast
spiritual radiation would gradually descend, in beneficent waves, towards the
more ignorant masses. It was a sage's dream, which was never to be realized.
Saint-Germain's Philosophy
With the co-operation of Savalette de Lange, who was the nominal head, he
founded the group of Philalethes, or truth-lovers, which was recruited from the
cream of the Friends Assembled. The Prince of Hesse, Condorcet, and
Cagliostro were all members of this group. Saint-Germain expounded his
philosophy at Ermenonville and in Paris, in the rue Platriere. It was a Platonic
Christianity, which combined Swedenborg's visions with Martinez de Pasqually's
theory of reintegration. There were to be found in it Plotinus' emanations and the

hierarchy of successive planes described by Hermeticists and modem

theosophists. He taught that man has in him infinite possibilities and that, from
the practical point of view, he must strive unceasingly to free himself of matter in
order to enter into communication with the world of higher intelligences.
He was understood by some. In two great successive assemblies, at which every
Masonic lodge in France was represented, the Philalethes attempted the reform
of Freemasonry. If they had attained their aim, if they had succeeded in directing
the great force of Freemasonry by the prestige of their philosophy, which was
sublime and disinterested, it may be that the course of events would have been
altered, that the old dream of a world guided by philosopher-initiates would have
been realized.
But matters were to turn out differently. Old causes, created by accumulated
injustices had paved the way for terrible effects. These effects were in their turn
to create the causes of future evil. The chain of evil, linked firmly together by
men's egoism and hatred, was not to be broken. The light kindled by a few wise
visionaries, a few faithful watchers over the well being of their brothers, was
extinguished almost as soon as it was kindled.
Legend of the Eternal Master
Napoleon III, puzzled and interested by what he had heard about the mysterious
life of the Comte de Saint-Germain, instructed one of his librarians to search for
and collect all that could be found about him in archives and documents of the
latter part of the eighteenth century. This was done, and a great number of
papers, forming an enormous dossier, was deposited in the library of the
prefecture of police. Unfortunately, the Franco-Prussian War and the Commune
supervened, and the part of the building in which the dossier was kept was burnt.
Thus once again a synchronous accident upheld the ancient law that decrees
that the life of the adept must always be surrounded with mystery.
What happened to the Comte de Saint-Germain after 1821, in which year there is
evidence that he was still alive? An Englishman, Albert Vandam, in his memoirs,
which he calls An Englishman in Paris, speaks of a certain person whom he
knew towards the end of Louis Philippe's reign and whose way of life bore a
curious resemblance to that of the Comte de Saint-Germain. "He called himself
Major Fraser, wrote Vandam, "lived alone and never alluded to his family.
Moreover he was lavish with money, though the source of his fortune remained a
mystery to everyone. He possessed a marvelous knowledge of all the countries
in Europe at all periods. His memory was absolutely incredible and, curiously
enough, he often gave his hearers to understand that he had acquired his
learning elsewhere than from books. Many is the time he has told me, with a
strange smile, that he was certain he had known Nero, had spoken with Dante,
and so on."

Like Saint-Germain, Major Fraser had the appearance of a man of between forty
and fifty, of middle height and strongly built. The rumor was current that he was
the illegitimate son of a Spanish prince. After having been, also like SaintGermain, a cause of astonishment to Parisian society for a considerable time, he
disappeared without leaving a trace. Was it the same Major Fraser who, in 1820,
published an account of his journey in the Himalayas, in which he said he had
reached Gangotri, the source of the most sacred branch of the Ganges River,
and bathed in the source of the Jumna River?
It was at the end of the nineteenth century that the legend of Saint-Germain grew
so inordinately. By reason of his knowledge, of the integrity of his life, of his
wealth and of the mystery that surrounded him, he might reasonably have been
taken for an heir of the first Rosicrucians, for a possessor of the Philosopher's
Stone. But the theosophists and a great many occultists regarded him as a
master of the great White Lodge of the Himalayas. The legend of these masters
is well known. According to it there live in inaccessible lamaseries in Tibet certain
wise men who possess the ancient secrets of the lost civilization of Atlantis.
Sometimes they send to their imperfect brothers, who are blinded by passions
and ignorance, sublime messengers to teach and guide them. Krishna, the
Buddha, and Jesus were the greatest of these. But there were many other more
obscure messengers, of whom Saint-Germain has been considered to be one.
"This pupil of Hindu and Egyptian hierophants, this holder of the secret
knowledge of the East," theosophist Madam Blavatsky says of him, "was not
appreciated for who he was. The stupid world has always treated in this way men
who, like Saint-Germain, have returned to it after long years of seclusion devoted
to study with their hands full of the treasure of esoteric wisdom and with the hope
of making the world better, wiser and happier." Between 1880 and 1900 it was
admitted among all theosophists, who at that time had become very numerous,
particularly in England and America, that the Comte de Saint-Germain was still
alive, that he was still engaged in the spiritual development of the West, and that
those who sincerely took part in this development had the possibility of meeting
him.
The brotherhood of Khe-lan was famous throughout Tibet, and one of their most
famous brothers was an Englishman who had arrived one day during the early
part of the twentieth century from the West. He spoke every language, including
the Tibetan, and knew every art and science, says the tradition. His sanctity and
the phenomena produced by him caused him to be proclaimed a Shaberon
Master after a residence of but a few years. His memory lives to the present day
among the Tibetans, but his real name is a secret with the Shaberons alone.
Might not this mysterious traveler be the Comte de Saint-Germain?
But even if he has never come back, even if he is no longer alive and we must
relegate to legend the idea that the great Hermetic nobleman is still wandering
about the world with his sparkling jewels, his senna tea, and his taste for

princesses and queens even so it can be said that he has gained the immortality
he sought. For a great number of imaginative and sincere men the Comte de
Saint-Germain is more alive than he has ever been. There are men who, when
they hear a step on the staircase, think it may perhaps be he, coming to give
them advice, to bring them some unexpected philosophical idea. They do not
jump up to open the door to their guest, for material barriers do not exist for him.
There are men who, when they go to sleep, are pervaded by genuine happiness
because they are certain that their spirit, when freed from the body, will be able
to hold converse with the master in the luminous haze of the astral world.
The Comte de Saint-Germain is always present with us. There will always be, as
there were in the eighteenth century, mysterious doctors, enigmatic travelers,
bringers of occult secrets, to perpetuate him. Some will have bathed in the
sources of the Ganges, and others will show a talisman found in the pyramids.
But they are not necessary. They diminish the range of the mystery by giving it
everyday, material form. The Comte de Saint-Germain is immortal, as he always
dreamed of being.

The Nature of the Daimon

The Daimon Speaks
Almost all of us at least once in our lives, during a sleepless night or an illness,
have heard a voice which, coming from nowhere, and as it were, speaking
silently, gives us advice -- usually very wise advice. It is always when we are in
solitude and most often at moments of exaltation that this silent voice speaks to
us. Certain men of spiritual genius have heard this voice so plainly and so often
as to make them believe that an intelligent being was about them, directing them
with inspired counsel. The Greeks called this intelligent being by the name of
"daimon."
The Daimon of Socrates
For instance, we know that Socrates possessed a personal daimon. "The favor of
the gods," said Socrates, "has given me a marvelous gift, which has never left
me since my childhood. It is a voice which, when it makes itself heard, deters me
from what I am about to do and never urges me on." He spoke familiarly of this
daimon, joked about it and obeyed blindly the indications it gave. Eventually, his
friends never took an important step without consulting it. But the daimon had its
sympathies, and when it was unfavorable to the questioner it remained
absolutely silent; in that event it was quite impossible for Socrates to make it
speak.
Between God and Man

Of what order is this daimon, which manifested itself to Socrates in childhood but
was also heard by Apollonius of Tyana only after he had begun to put into
practice the Hermetic principles? "They are intermediate powers of a divine
order. They fashion dreams, inspire soothsayers," says Apuleius. "They are
inferior immortals, called gods of the second rank, placed between earth and
heaven," says Maximus of Tyre. Plato thinks that a kind of spirit, which is
separate from us, receives man at his birth, and follows him in life and after
death. He calls it "the daimon which has received us as its portionment." The
ancient idea of the daimon seems, therefore, to be analogous to the guardian
angel of Christians.
Possibly the daimon is nothing but the higher part of man's spirit, that which is
separated from the human element and is capable, through ecstasy, of becoming
one with the universal spirit. To an organism that has been purified, therefore, it's
daimon would be able in certain conditions to transmit both the vision of past
events, the image of which happens to be accessible to it, and that portion of the
future the causes of which are already in existence, and the effects of which are
consequently foreseeable.
But the fact that the daimon had preferences among Socrates' friends, that it
chose between them, seems to show that its intelligence was different from that
of Socrates himself. Socrates often said that this inner voice, which many times
deterred him from doing one thing, never incited him to do something else. Now,
it is a rule among adepts never to give any but negative advice; for he who
advises someone to do a thing not only takes upon himself the burden of the
consequences but also deprives the man he advises of all merit in the action.
Apollonius believed that between the imperfection of man and the most exalted
among the hierarchy of creation there existed intermediaries. One of his
intermediaries was the ideal of beauty that we make for ourselves, an ideal that
is formless but is nonetheless real on another plane of life. This ideal was the
daimon, the reality of which became the greater in proportion as the idea of it
became the more powerful in its creator's mind.
The Secret Spirit
Thus a sculptor with intuition who had a knowledge of magic might, in certain
conditions, be able to give form to a creature of ideal beauty begotten by his own
ideal. In order, then, to steep oneself in the perfection of this creature there would
be two methods: either to actualize it on the terrestrial plane by giving it a form;
or to enter its ethereal domain by divesting oneself of form through the
transformative experience of ecstasy. It may be that certain workers of miracles
who possessed an amazing secret used the first method and lived with a divine
companion whom they had themselves made visible to their own human eyes.
But they kept their secret to themselves. Those of them who spoke of it were
regarded as mad and were imprisoned or burned. There were others, too, whose

soul was impure and thus created caricatures of the ideal and were haunted by
monsters resembling them. The Middle Ages, when methods of ancient magic
were still being handed down, are full of stories of men possessed, tormented by
their own demons, which, once they were created, never died and attached
themselves to their creator.
Without doubt, the alchemistic philosophers, the Hermeticists, and all the mystics
of the Neo-Platonic school, used the second method. They entered the ethereal
realm by divesting themselves of form and ego. They sought the beauty of the
soul, strove to find the radiant inner ego, and thanks to the impetus of their
ecstasy, they sometimes attained their aim.

Discovery of Phosphorus

Interpretation of this Drawing (by John Read)

One of the most famous alchemical paintings of the eighteenth century is "The Discovery of
Phosphorus" by the English painter, Joseph Wright (1734-1797), of Derby, England. In essence,
Wright continued the tradition of Schalken and van Bentum by painting the effects of light. He was
fond of placing a strong source of light in a central part of his composition and tracing the
highlights and shadows created in this way. In such studies the figures stand out in strong relief.
He began experimenting with candlelight and firelight pieces, eventually producing such
masterpieces as "Three Persons Viewing the Gladiator by Candlelight" (1765), "A Philosopher
Giving that Lecture on the Orrery in which a Lamp Is Put in the Place of the Sun" (1766), "An
Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump" (1768), and "The Discovery of Phosphorus" (1771). He
also painted "A Blacksmith's Shop," "An Iron Forge," "Miss Kitty Dressing," and other subjects.
Some of these paintings were beautifully engraved in mezzotint -- a process to which they are
peculiarly responsive -- by the renowned English engravers, William Pether (1731-1795), Richard
Earlom (1743-1822), and Valentine Green (1739-1813). The early impressions, in particular, are
distinguished by an exquisite velvety quality. This work owed much to the incentive of John
Boydell (1719-1804), a skilled and energetic engraver who raised English engraving of the
eighteenth century to a very high level, and incidentally became Lord Mayor of London towards
the close of the century (1791).
Wright's interest in alchemy and science finds repeated expression in his paintings, but most
notably in "The Orrery " and "The Discovery of Phosphorus." In the first of these subjects, the
central figure is a philosopher, in the second an alchemist. The venerable philosopher of "The
Orrery" stands in the mid-background of the composition, behind the instrument, from which
vantage-point he demonstrates the motion of the planets to an audience of seven members. He is
a commanding figure in a handsome brocaded gown; his head is massive and intellectual, his
face furrowed and seamed with lines of thought. Below his pointing right hand, the full glare of the
hidden lamp lights up the smooth cherubic countenances of two children, who peer intently
between the brass hoops of the orrery at the moving models of the planets. Facing them in the
foreground, a third childish figure, eclipsing the lamp, is shown in darkly silhouetted outline. To
right and left the light streams away to disclose four other figures, each characteristically intent
upon the demonstration.
The full title of Wright's "The Discovery of Phosphorus" runs as follows: "The Alchemist in Search
of the Philosopher's Stone Discovers Phosphorus and Prays for the Successful Conclusion of his
Operation, as was the Custom of the Ancient Chemical Astrologers."
The scene is a dark, vaulted room, at night, in the crypt of an ancient building. Here, an
alchemist, after "long labor unto aged breath," is making yet another Distillation, in the midst of a
gloom lightened only by faint moonbeams from without and the feebler rays of a candle from
within. The moon rides ever higher above the lofty mullioned window, revealing its tracery in stark
outline. Midnight draws nigh. The aged adept -- for he is no mere puffer -- watches and prays.
Suddenly a dim glow begins to steal into the dark receiver. The alchemist and his two acolytes
shade their eyes and watch the strange sight with wonder and awe. The glow lives, and grows,
and spreads, till it illumines every corner of that drear and dunky chamber with an unearthly light.
The ancient alchemist raises heavenwards eyes that have long since grown dim with gazing on
earthly fires. It is surely his Nunc Dimittis ("Send out word now," which means announce his
enlightenment to the world), as described in an essay by Victor Hugo:
"The sun is born of fire, the moon of the sun. Fire is the soul of the Great All. Its elementary
atoms are diffused and constantly flowing by an infinity of currents throughout the universe. At the
points where these currents cross each other in the heavens they produce light; at their points of
intersection in the earth they produce gold. Light-gold; it is the same thing -- Fire in its concrete
state. What! this light that bathes my hand is gold? All that is necessary is to condense by a
certain law these same atoms dilated by certain other laws! Flamel considers it simpler to operate

with terrestrial fire. Flamel! there's predestination in the very name! Flamma! Yes, Fire -- that is
all. The diamond exists already in the charcoal, gold in Fire. But how to extract it? What! I hold in
my hand the magic hammer!" Nunc dimittis, Domine! ("Send out word now, Master!")

RELATIONSHIP OF MATTER AND ENERGY

AND THE APPLICATION TO THE FIRST CAUSE
by George Williams < GeoLWilliams@aol.com >

INTRODUCTION TO MODEL
The following is a model for the formation of the universe and the relationship of
matter and energy. It is my belief that the classic models are lacking and do not
explain certain aspects of subatomic and photon behavior.
Scientist have proven that matter stores energy and that E=MC is true for the
loss of mass proportional to energy expended. The force of nuclear reaction and
the amount of energy stored in a single atom cannot not be explained by the
subatomic models. If you think about how this much energy is stored in the form
of matter, the answer must be rotating structural form. Solid matter can store
energy and remain stationary and stable with regard to axial position if it is
rotating. i.e. flywheel. Matter is literally an energy force field or structured
energy. The idea of thinking in terms of structured energy is difficult since we
tend to perceive energy or force as nothing but a cause and can only be
measured by its effect on matter. Due to the difficulty imagining energy as a
massless effect; I tend to imagine air, water or objects with mass such as a straw
or balloon. Since every part of the this dimension is filled with energy, we exist in
an ocean of energy.
Consider the Universe. Science would have us believe that space is void. But
space is only void of concentrations of structured energy that we know as matter.
From the standpoint of energy, or magnetic and gravitational force space is full.
The planets, stars, black holes, and quasars all follow rules of motion. Forces act
on forces and forces acting on stars and planets can hardly be considered void
or nothingness. In fact everything affects everything to some extent.
Since energy is a difficult concept let us suppose that the universe is filled with
water. For example, imagine a small eddy in water. The eddy currents have a
hollow center and could not resist the flow of air through it but from any side it
would have properties of mass. With regard to energy, only a single Axis of
rotational structure would have length and width. So we can say that an energy
eddy with a single axis (y) of rotation (acceleration) would only have two

dimensional resistance to a lineal energy or force. (admittedly the eddy has

height width and depth and are therefore three dimensional, but Im talking in
terms of structured energy.) Since pure energy cannot be measured except by
and effect on matter or mass, lets say it is a Y structure based on Cartesian
coordinates.
Photon And God said, Let there be light
Now consider a photon. If a photon were an energy eddy with a single axis of
rotation, it would have properties of matter and energy. It would have a single
axis of rotation; therefore having direction and frequency or wave form. It would
be effected by magnetism and gravity. It could be created by electrons tumbling
and interacting in a concentrated magnetic field. The photon would vary with the
diameter of the rotation. The cause and effect of the fields that create it would
determine its diameter or frequency.
If one imagines the rotating field or energy eddy on a plane the rotation would
cause motion. It would have direction and frequency. Think of a tire rolling down
a hill. It has both physical and wave properties. Is light a wave or matter? The
answer is yes. It is both. Because a photon is the most basic component of
structured energy. During creation of this time space dimension it would be the
first thing created. This is shown in the Y Structure (Ys) diagram to the left.
I know they say that a photon has no mass, but they used to say that about
electrons also. Photon mass is let us say a property that allows it to be affected
by gravity and magnetism.
Electron
What if this spinning group of Ys or energy is spun on both the vertical Y
horizontal X direction of rotation; you would have a dual axis rotation (XY
structure) (acceleration). Dual Axis of rotation would have three dimensions
length, width and height. If the object spins fast enough it would take on the
properties of a solid spherical object. A two dimensional accelerating object is a
model for the electron. The smallest stable mass. A rotational couple is formed
when two directions of rotation are joined. We have both mass and stable wave
form.
The field or structure is fixed. It is the smallest fixed particle of mass. I know that
somebody will say what about the quark. But the quark is not a fixed and
independent structure. A quark is only a subcomponent of the structures field.
Each polar region has a concentrated field that effect the electron microscope in
a way that indicates structure.
Proton

How may directions can an object be rotated (or accelerated) at the same time ?
Three XYZ Axis. Imagine this sphere rotating X and Y axis now spin it on the Z
axis or third dimensional axis. A new property is formed, Mass/Gravitation
Couple. Therefore rotating energy has Measurable Mass/Gravity. (while
electrons have mass it is small compared to proton ) The third axis of rotation (or
acceleration ) gives you mass or E=MC2. Measurable Mass /gravity only equals
the last property of acceleration and therefore relates to the formula for
centripetal force and gravitation.
Gravity is the constant impelling force associated with mass. Mass is created by
the outward pushing centripetal force and gravity is the impelling force. Gravity is
directly proportional to mass. This presents the possibility that a change in the
apparent mass will also cause a change in the gravitational effect.
To review, a particle with a single axis of rotation is a photon. It has field mass
singular rotation, frequency and direction. It is created by the collision of
opposing fields of rotation. Its frequency varies depending on the concentration
of field in which it was created. An electron has two axis of rotation. It is a fixed
and stable parcel, it has fixed mass and magnetic properties.
A proton has three axii of rotation. It has a larger mass and gravitational force
based on the third direction of rotation. It stores energy as mass / gravity. The
fields structure by nature forms concentrations of energy that are quarks and
anti-matter. Each axial field is made up of a quark and anti-matter property. While
an electron also has the quark/anti-matter relationship, these properties are
made more apparent by the third axis of rotation which expands area and
amplifies the field effect.
THEOREM
Based on the above description I would like to describe the events that formed
matter. Please keep in mind that while Im describing the events with regard to a
single atom; the events were happening on a universal scale and that the time of
the events is indeterminable since the event to time ratio was changing.
1) Lets assume that just prior to creation of the universe that within the
matterless and engeryless temporal / spatial dimension where our universe now
exists the law of physics existed (no speed faster than light).
2) Next lets assume that the force (first cause) which causes the big bang is
from another adjacent temporal and spatial dimension. The bang begins from a
small rupture in the time space continuum.
Imagine our universe as a balloon with nothing in it and the bang eruption as the
air needle you insert to blow it up. The needle has no shaft so it is really like a
infinitesimal doorway which grows larger as the energy flow increases and the

new dimension expands. Lets say the cause is from an implosion in an adjacent
dimension sharing time but not space. (but only for the moment of the implosion)
Event time must be shared but remember our dimensions arent sharing space.
The air in the balloon doesnt share space with the air outside of it. I would
suggest that a super gravitation event in all four dimensions (length, width,
height, and time) of the adjacent time space continuum caused the rupture.
3) As the energy is released from the dimensional doorway. Lets assume that it
increases directly proportional to time and the increasing tear in the adjacent
dimensions time space continuum. ET1<ET2<ET3<ET* WHERE ( E) =ENERGY
(T) = TIME (1,2,3,) MARK THE CHRONOLOGICAL SEQUENCE OF THE
EVENT AND A VALUE OF INCREASING LINEAL ENERGY ACCELERATION
EMANATING IN ALL DIRECTIONS AT ONCE, ( *) BEING MAXIMUM ENERGY
TO SEQUENCTIAL EXPANSION ACCELERATION (TO THE SPEED OF
LIGHT).
The sequence RUPTURE <ET1<ET2<ET3<ET*=E-(TOTAL MATTER ) note the
E- total matter (not mass) since all matter even to the smallest particle contains
energy by the nature of its existence. As the energy emanates and increases
acceleration, the energy in front resists the change in acceleration of the energy
behind it. It is the physical laws and limitations of the forming universe that form
the resistance; therefore, without these laws of physics matter and/or mass could
not be formed. As the ever increasing energy behind (ET2) pushes passed
(ET1), it causes the less intense linear energy to form eddies (ET1). As ET1
begins to rotate it forms a field of resistance which has two physical dimensions
width and depth. These energy eddies reach a maximum rotation/acceleration.
Then the eddies take on the properties of matter on the Y axis of rotation but in
the vortex of the eddy the properties on energy still exist. (photon). (The structure
of a photon is not stable out side of a force field since the second dimensional
axis of rotation is not established it dissipates and tends to have lineal direction
of movement through other fields.) But for now our photon is still trapped and
resisting acceleration. It is still being pushed from behind As the eddy resists the
continued increase in energy and rotation/acceleration, the eddy begins to rotate
on the perpendicular (X) axis to maximum rotation/acceleration. (It is now rotating
on both the x and y axis and has properties to matter in a stable field in three
dimensions without measurable properties of mass and two dimensional
acceleration.)
The new particle is call E (electron). The E particle is further resistant to
acceleration and the increasing magnitude of the energy (E*).Two particles of E
with opposite polarity are force together and begin to resist the emanating energy
and begins to rotate on the third axis or Z. The matter now takes on the
properties of measurable mass. Proton/Neutron couple As the eddy resists the
continued increase in energy and rotation/acceleration, the eddy begins to rotate
on the perpendicular (X) axis to maximum rotation/acceleration. (It is now rotating
on both the x and y axis and has properties to matter in a stable field in three

dimensions without measurable properties of mass and two dimensional

acceleration.) The new particle is call E (electron).
The E particle is further resistant to acceleration and the increasing magnitude of
the energy (E*).Two particles of E with opposite polarity are force together and
begin to resist the emanating energy and begins to rotate on the third axis or Z.
The matter now takes on the properties of measurable mass. Note: the tangent
point has equal and opposite acceleration in all three planes of physical
dimension. Plus and Minus symbols represent polar direction only as in a
magnet.
As you can readily see matter is not destroyed when the atom is split ; rather
measurable mass is converted to energy but your left with some really screwed
up electrons.(If you could capture these wild electrons in a three dimensional
magnetic field and stabilize the energy. What a power supply you would have)
This is difficult to explain on a few pages.
Subatomic Particles and Antimatter
I think that while physicists try to discover subatomic particles they are seeing
the concentrated areas around the positive poles of each axis and identifying
these poles as quarks. The negative poles are being identified as antimatter. In
some instances the process that physicists are using to view the sub atomic
particles actually creates the particles (small photon type eddies) Its kind of like
looking so close at the trees that you cant find the forest. Since the area
identified as quarks does not account for the entire volume and mass of matter;
the remaining volume of mass is the field of stored energy. The field property that
is matter and mass is missed. Depending on the state of the surrounding field
and whether the particle is in a state of stability the subatomic particles created
will vary.
Gray Matter
If the so called big bang happened and matter formed according to my model the
Gray Matter or missing matter is accounted for by the fields created by X,Y,Z
rotation (three dimensional acceleration structure of energy in a state know as
matter). You could for the sake of mathematics consider a structured pool of
neutrinos.
Gravitation and Mass
Since opposing forces would be required to stabilize the third dimensional
property which creates the effect of mass, the opposing force is gravity, the
combined fields of the collective mass have a cumulative effect which results in
gravitational force. Gravitation is a constant impelling force. The impelling force is
offset by the centripetal force of the Z-axis of rotation or third property of

acceleration. Gravity and Mass can be viewed as the vector sum of the matter
field effect. Mass, and Gravity are properties of the force field that is matter. Lets
suppose that we have a little water in a hollow globe. If we rotate the globe on a
single axis (call it X) the water flows to the equator of the globe. If we rotate the
globe on the another axis Y at the same time, the water would cover the inside of
the sphere with equal pressure at every point. Now if you rotate the globe on a
third axis Z at the same time such that X, Y and Z share a single common center
point, then this additional energy is displaced as mass and gravity.
Electro- Magnetism
Electrons have three dimensional properties of matter without measurable mass /
gravity (virtually no gravity). They have two dimensional structured acceleration
or rotation. Each electron rotate on the X/Y axis. When electrons flow in a path
such as a coil the relative polarization of one of the two axii of acceleration are
aligned the lineal path creates a relative cumulative polarization. The polarization
magnifies the effect of the plus minus x axis of rotation. An electron is the perfect
motor. Up till now we have used only the transient properties of its field to do
work. We use electrons like pressurized fluid. We align it , push it, and
manipulate it to transfer mechanical energy. We have not tapped it as an energy
source. I think that if electrons could be held in a force field, we could extract
power directly.
Nuclear Energy and Anti-Gravity
When protons are split and the radio active particles are sent out, I think that
acceleration of the radio active particle could be reduced by placing the radio
active particles in a three dimensional force field. I believe that useable energy
can be derived while accelerating the period of radioactive decay. If a coil were
constructed which magnetically/electrostatically restricted the movement of the
radioactive particles the resulting magnetic field in a secondary coil would cause
electrical flow. The three dimension field coil is basically three electromagnets
position in a way respectively to create a three dimensional force field. It consists
of X, Y, and Z coils inside a static shield. These coils simulate mass which has a
direct gravitational effect. This gravitational effect could be increased or
decreased. The problem is that you need to extract enough energy from the field
to generate its own magnetism. This is not however energy from nothing since
you are accelerating a decay of mass in the radioactive material. This in turn
accelerates the decay of the radioactivity. Photons are created when electrons
are tumble within a field The resulting eddy is a single polar unstable reaction.
Instant travel
If we could move into the time adjacent dimensional time space continuum then
we could emerge back again into our own dimension we could travel vast
distances of space in an instant. It is conceivable that consciousness is our link

to the vast dimension outside of this continuum. The realm of Jung's collective
unconsciousness, The twilight zone.
Black Hole
The formation of our time space continuum is similar to the description
associated with a black hole. In another dimension a black hole exists or existed
energy and mass imploding until no mass exists in the time space dimension
where the cause took place but energy / mass is displaced in the newly formed
adjacent dimension. Black holes could be the opposite side of a big bang
explosion. Black Holes could be creating other dimensional time space
continuums right now.
TIME
Is time a constant or does it change as the events happen faster? Einsteins
Relativity simple stated that time is proportional to the speed of the event. But
lets assume the duration of time that we perceive is constant measurement
unrelated to the event. Then the age of the universe would be less than
estimated. The speed of the expansion would have followed a parabolic curve
increasing during the formation of mass , matter then slowing due to gravity. Our
present expansion would be at the slowest rate ever. Though from our
perspective on earth the view would appear to be increasing in speed since our
view is through the bend in the time continuum we tend to see the distance like
viewing down the opposite and adjacent sides of the right triangle, where true
time speed is the hypotenuse. Thus while slowing it appears to accelerate. The
Keep in mind that the appearance of stars age would be equally distorted, since
the time factor associated with the event would have changed proportional to
time so that the appearance of stars would be older. Stars ages are estimate
using time / event constants. The only thing that science can study about energy
is the effect of energy on matter in a time sequence. But we view time as a
sequence of events or a sequence of changes on matter. The total scientific
knowledge of man is base on measurement and properties of matter or events.
We can now observe and measure only under the condition that now exists
during the condition of forces that now exist. Through most of the formation of the
universe the events were probably happening at a faster rate. Our whole idea
about the age of the universe, stars and the earth is probably distorted. It is
arbitrary to conclude since time is only relevant to the event. What happens in
one second now was not what happened then in the time measurement we know
as a second. If the speed of light is the maximum velocity then light can be the
only true measure of time. I dont think time is as much the variable as is matter
and energy. What if time is constant and mass changes. We use objects of
matter to measure time. Perhaps only our measure of time is distorted. If a
second is only defined as the event perhaps seconds have changed. This
explanation only serves to re-enforce the concept of Platos that the reflection on
the wall of the cave is truly distorted.

The Mysterious First Matter

The Spiritization of Matter
It must never be supposed that the practice of alchemy consists only in the
exercise of the mind, will, and imagination, or that the products obtained are
imaginary and intangible or invisible to mortal eyes. The fact is that no alchemical
process can be accomplished without the presence of visible and tangible matter,
since alchemy is, so to speak, a spiritualizing of matter.
In fact, there is really no transformation of matter into spirit, as some people
mistakenly believe, for each of the seven principles (the Emerald Formula) of the
eternal nature is unchangeable, and remains forever within its own center -- in
the same sense as darkness cannot be turned into light, although a light may be
kindled within the darkness, in consequence of which the darkness will
disappear. Likewise within each material form, there sleeps the divine spirit, the
Light, which may become awakened to life and activity and illuminate the body
and cause it to live and to grow. Of the qualities of the powers of that Light, or
even of its existence, modern chemistry has no knowledge and no terminology to
describe it.
In other words, there is visible matter and invisible matter. Or in alchemical
terms, there is a tangible Water and a Water that is beyond the reach of
perception by the physical senses; a visible Fire and an invisible Secret Fire.
Neither of these can accomplish anything without the other, for in the practice of
alchemy, as in the regeneration of man, that which is Above must be made to
penetrate that which is Below, so that the lower may enter into a higher state of
existence. If we wish to know nature we must learn to know God, and God
cannot be know without knowledge of ones own divine self.
The First Matter
The spiritual substance of which external visible nature is an expression and
manifestation has been called the Materia Prima (First Matter) by alchemists. It is
the material for the formation of a new heaven and a new earth. It is like
alchemical Water, or a crystalline ocean, if compared with our grossly
materialized earth; it is at once Fire, Water, Air, and Earth -- corporeal in its
essence and nevertheless incorporeal relative to our own physical forms.
In this primordial Chaos is contained the germ or seeds of potencies of all things
that ever existed and of all that ever will exist in the future. It is the universal soul,
or the Corpus of nature, and by means of the Secret Fire it may be extricated
from all substances and be rendered corporeal and visible. It is both unity and a
trinity according to its inherent aspects of Sulfur, Mercury, and Salt. These three
are distinct qualities characterizing the spirit of Light, and nevertheless they are

nothing different from the essence of the Light. This Light is eternal nature, the
Anima Mundi or Soul of the World.
The primordial matter contains the powers that form minerals and metals,
vegetables and animals, and everything that breathes; all forms are hidden within
its depths, and it is therefore, the true principium or beginning of all things. It is
the play and battleground far all the hidden influences that came from the stars
and the birthplace of the beings that inhabit the astral planes, as well as those
that are born into the visible world. The First Matter is the womb of eternal nature
from which everything that exists is born by the power of the spirit acting within.
From its fertile soil are produced good and evil fruits, wholesome and noxious
plants, harmless and poisonous animals, for the Mind of God is no distinguisher
of persons nor favorer of any particular individual; each receives its share of life
and will according to its capacity to receive, and each becomes ultimately that
which its own character destines it to be.
First Matter and the Ether of the Ancients
(from Ether and Reality by Sir Oliver Lodge)

Apollonius of Tyana is said to have asked the Brahmins of what they supposed
the Cosmos to be composed. "Of the five elements," came the reply. "How can
there be a fifth" demanded Apollonius, "beside Water and Air and Earth and
Fire?" "There is the Ether," replied the Brahmin, "which we must regard as the
element of which the gods are made, for just as all mortal creatures inhale the
air, so do immortal and divine natures inhale the Ether."
What you choose to call this unifying something is of no consequence. The
Ancients sometimes spoke of the Ether, possibly as an addition to the usual four
elements. Sir Isaac Newton adopted this term for the connecting medium of the
whole universe. He believed the optical medium connects the particles together
in a solid or a liquid, and the same medium connects the heavenly bodies
together into systems and clusters and constellations and nebulae and Milky
Way. All pieces of matter and all particles are connected together by the Ether
and by nothing else. In it they move freely, and of it they may be composed. We
must study the kind of connection between matter and the Ether (between
manifested matter and the First Matter).
The particles emanating from the Ether are not independent of it; they are closely
connected with it, and it is probable that they are formed out of it. They are not
like grains of sand suspended in water (as our modern scientists believe); they
seem more like minute crystals forming out of a mother liquor or supersaturated
solution. Speculatively and intuitively we feel to be more in direct touch with the
Ether than with matter. How we can act on matter is a mystery. How we are
created and how we move our bodies, we do not know, yet we are apt to identify
ourselves with our bodies.

But there is evidence that shows that we are really independent, that we continue
in existence and can leave our bodies behind. Matter is not part of our real being,
not of our essential nature. It is but an instrument that we use for a time and then
discard. Probably we do not act directly upon matter at all. Our will, our mind, our
psychic fife, probably act directly only upon the Ether, only through it, indirectly,
on matter. Ether is our real primary and permanent instrument of creation. It is in
connection with the Ether that our real being consists; and through it we are able
to manipulate the atoms of matter, to move them, to rearrange them, and thus
employ them to express our thoughts and feelings and to manifest ourselves to
other individual entities who, in the long course of evolution have been enabled
to construct and employ similar most ingenious, though always imperfect,
instruments of manifestation. By means of the Ether, we can become aware of a
multitude of existences, the whole animal and vegetable kingdom, of which
otherwise we might have remained ignorant; by means of the Ether, our
conceptions of existence have been enlarged and extended, the possibilities of
friendship enhanced, the perception of a new realm of law and order attained.
And thus is our own nature enriched by the effort and experiences belonging to a
new and most interesting -- though from our point of view imperfect and
rebellious -- physical mode of existence.'
The Ether (First Matter of the alchemists) is the primary instrument of Mind, the
vehicle of Soul, the habitation of Spirit. Truly it may be called the "Living Garment
of God."

YOUR FEEDBACK:
What do you think the First Matter represents?
"It seems you are missing a vital link in the chain of "ignition" of the First Matter. The
subconscious is a vast storehouse of images/memories/associations and the human imaginative
faculty certainly uses this as a primary resource. But there are many different levels, ie. personal,
family, group, racial, planetary, etc., all going deeper and deeper towards the Source. To break
through consciously to a level for which one is not prepared is most dangerous, and this is what
the path of safe initiation is all about. Furthermore, to break though the various protective barriers
requires relatively enormous internal energies. So, I would suggest that the "First Matter" is the
energy generator which one has to find and activate before "ignition" of the imagination can
occur. Thus, the imagination is the secondary, not primary aspect of this particular paradigm.
Only when sufficient energy is available can one break through the barriers to access the next
level and only then can the imagination, using this energy, come to the issue of free association
and creative imagination. The combination of these brings about inner experience and a
progressive comprehension of the true relationship between man and God. It is a process, not an
event. The traditional safe methods are the esoteric aspects of all the great religions including
alchemy. They all have one thing in common under different names: the alchemical marriage Yoga - Union - the awakening of Kundalini - Christ in You . . . This is a long list having essentially
the same meaning, although utilizing considerably different methods to bring about the
transformation." - anjan@netactive.co.za

The First Matter is the primordial chaos that is fashioned into reality by the One Mind of
the universe.

The alchemists pictured the First Matter as a seething chaos of Light and Darkness that
the Emerald Tablet called the One Thing.

The Light of the One Mind fashions reality out of the darkness of the One Thing.

The archetypal forces of the One Mind act on the One Thing.

The First Matter is everywhere to be found.

To every natural form, rock, fruit, or flower, even the loose stones that cover the highway, I
gave a moral life: I saw them feel or linked them to some feeling: the great mass lay
bedded in some quickening soul, and all that I beheld respired with inward meaning.
- William Wordsworth
In one's self lies the imminent domain of a heritage that predates the worlds. We exist as a
portion of light kept draped within a cloud of wonder, always seeking yet never finding
that alchemical approach to change that seems unchangeable. Grasping at the wind, we
search for an external fire that burns only within. Our future, our hope, our destiny lies in
its change that results from a vibrating sound of harmony once discovered. That which is
without is also within, that which one seeks has already been found. The key is to
manipulate energy, thereby alchemically changing the exterior's reflection to imitate the
inner gold of purity.
- John Panella

First Matter (Chaos) Art

The essence of the First Matter, which is chaos, seems to evoke octal or octagon
imagery. Thanks to modern mathematics and the evolution of Chaos Theory, the
computer itself becomes a tool in generating chaos as is evidenced by Fractal
Diagrams. For alchemists, however, chaos is the First Matter and the source of
all transformative energy. Place your curser over the artwork to see credits and
links.

Visions of Chaos and the First Matter by

Medieval Alchemists

Nicholas Flamel
The Book of Abraham the Jew
Wisdom has various means for making its way into the heart of man. Sometimes a prophet
comes forward and speaks. Or a sect of mystics receives the teaching of a philosophy, like rain
on a summer evening, gathers it in and spreads it abroad with love. Or it may happen that a
charlatan, performing tricks to astonish men, may produce, perhaps without knowing it himself, a
ray of real light with his dice and magic mirrors. In the fourteenth century, the pure truth of the
masters was transmitted by a book. This book fell into the hands of precisely the man who was
destined to receive it; and he, with the help of the text and the hieroglyphic diagrams that taught
the transmutation of metals into gold, accomplished the transmutation of his soul, which is a far
rarer and more wonderful operation.
Thanks to the amazing book of Abraham the Jew all the Hermetists of the following centuries had
the opportunity of admiring an example of a perfect life, that of Nicolas Flamel, the man who
received the book. After his death or disappearance many students and alchemists who had
devoted their lives to the search for the Philosopher's Stone despaired because they had not in
their possession the wonderful book that contained the secret of gold and of eternal life. But their
despair was unnecessary. The secret had become alive. The magic formula had become
incarnate in the actions of a man. No ingot of virgin gold melted in the crucibles could, in color or
purity, attain the beauty of the wise bookseller's pious life.
There is nothing legendary about the life of Nicolas Flamel. The Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris
contains works copied in his own hand and original works written by him. All the official
documents relating to his life have been found: his marriage contract, his deeds of gift, his will.
His history rests solidly on those substantial material proofs for which men clamor if they are to
believe in obvious things. To this indisputably authentic history, legend has added a few flowers.
But in every spot where the flowers of legend grow, underneath there is the solid earth of truth.
Whether Nicolas Flamel was born at Pontoise or somewhere else, a question that historians have
argued and investigated with extreme attention, seems to me to be entirely without importance. It
is enough to know that towards the middle of the fourteenth century, Flamel was carrying on the
trade of a bookseller and had a stall backing on to the columns of Saint-Jacques la Boucherie in
Paris. It was not a big stall, for it measured only two feet by two and a half. However, it grew. He
bought a house in the old rue de Marivaux and used the ground floor for his business. Copyists
and illuminators did their work there. He himself gave a few writing lessons and taught nobles
who could only sign their names with a cross. One of the copyists or illuminators acted also as a
servant to him.
Nicolas Flamel married Pernelle, a good-looking, intelligent widow, slightly older than himself and
the possessor of a little property. Every man meets once in his life the woman with whom he
could live in peace and harmony. For Nicolas Flamel, Pernelle was that woman. Over and above
her natural qualities, she had another which is still rarer. She was a woman who was capable of
keeping a secret all her life without revealing it to anybody in confidence. But the story of Nicolas
Flamel is the story of a book for the most part. The secret made its appearance with the book,
and neither the death of its possessors nor the lapse of centuries led to the complete discovery of
the secret.
Nicolas Flamel had acquired some knowledge of the Hermetic art. The ancient alchemy of the
Egyptians and the Greeks that flourished among the Arabs had, thanks to them, penetrated to
Christian countries. Nicolas Flamel did not, of course, regard alchemy as a mere vulgar search
for the means of making gold. For every exalted mind the finding of the Philosopher's Stone was

the finding of the essential secret of Nature, the secret of her unity and her laws, the possession
of perfect wisdom. Flamel dreamed of sharing in this wisdom. His ideal was the highest that man
could attain. And he knew that it could be realized through a book, for the secret of the
Philosopher's Stone had already been found and transcribed in symbolic form. Somewhere it
existed. It was in the hands of unknown sages who lived somewhere unknown. But how difficult it
was for a small Paris bookseller to get into touch with those sages.
Nothing, really, has changed since the fourteenth century. In our day also many men strive
desperately towards an ideal, the path which they know but cannot climb; and they hope to win
the magic formula (which will make them new beings) from some miraculous visit or from a book
written expressly for them. But for most, the visitor does not come and the book is not written. Yet
for Nicolas Flamel the book was written. Perhaps because a bookseller is better situated than
other people to receive a unique book; perhaps because the strength of his desire organized
events without his knowledge, so that the book came when it was time. So strong was his desire,
that the coming of the book was preceded by a dream, which shows that this wise and wellbalanced bookseller had a tendency to mysticism.
Nicolas Flamel dreamed one night that an angel stood before him. The angel, who was radiant
and winged like all angels, held a book in his hands and uttered these words, which were to
remain in the memory of the hearer: "Look well at this book, Nicholas. At first you will understand
nothing in it neither you nor any other man. But one day you will see in it that which no other
man will be able to see." Flamel stretched out his hand to receive the present from the angel, and
the whole scene disappeared in the golden light of dreams. Sometime after that the dream was
partly realized.
One day, when Nicolas Flamel was alone in his shop, an unknown man in need of money
appeared with a manuscript to sell. Flamel was no doubt tempted to receive him with disdainful
arrogance, as do the booksellers of our day when some poor student offers to sell them part of
his library. But the moment he saw the book he recognized it as the book that the angel had held
out to him, and he paid two florins for it without bargaining. The book appeared to him indeed
resplendent and instinct with divine virtue. It had a very old binding of worked copper, on which
were engraved curious diagrams and certain characters, some of which were Greek and others in
a language he could not decipher. The leaves of the book were not made of parchment, like
those he was accustomed to copy and bind. They were made of the bark of young trees and were
covered with very clear writing done with an iron point. These leaves were divided into groups of
seven and consisted of three parts separated by a page without writing, but containing a diagram
that was quite unintelligible to Flamel. On the first page were written words to the effect that the
author of the manuscript was Abraham the Jew prince, priest, Levite, astrologer, and
philosopher. Then followed great curses and threats against anyone who set eyes on it unless he
was either a priest or a scribe. The mysterious word maranatha, which was many times repeated
on every page, intensified the awe-inspiring character of the text and diagrams. But most
impressive of all was the patined gold of the edges of the book, and the atmosphere of hallowed
antiquity that there was about it.
Maranatha! Was he qualified to read this book? Nicolas Flamel considered that being a scribe he
might read the book without fear. He felt that the secret of life and of death, the secret of the unity
of Nature, the secret of the duty of the wise man, had been concealed behind the symbol of the
diagram and formula in the text by an initiate long since dead. He was aware that it is a rigid law
for initiates that they must not reveal their knowledge, because if it is good and fruitful for the
intelligent, it is bad for ordinary men. As Jesus has clearly expressed it, pearls must not be given
as food to swine. Was he qualified to read this book? Nicolas Flamel considered that being a
scribe he might read the book without fear. He felt that the secret of life and of death, the secret
of the unity of Nature, the secret of the duty of the wise man, had been concealed behind the
symbol of the diagram and formula in the text by an initiate long since dead. He was aware that it
is a rigid law for initiates that they must not reveal their knowledge, because if it is good and

fruitful for the intelligent, it is bad for ordinary men. As Jesus has clearly expressed it, pearls must
not be given as food to swine.
He had the pearl in his hands. It was for him to rise in the scale of man in order to be worthy to
understand its purity. He must have had in his heart a hymn of thanksgiving to Abraham the Jew,
whose name was unknown to him, but who had thought and labored in past centuries and whose
wisdom he was now inheriting. He must have pictured him a bald old man with a hooked nose,
wearing the wretched robe of his race and wilting in some dark ghetto, in order that the light of his
thought might not be lost. And he must have vowed to solve the riddle, to rekindle the light, to be
patient and faithful, like the Jew who had died in the flesh but lived eternally in his manuscript.
Nicolas Flamel had studied the art of transmutation. He was in touch with all the learned men of
his day. Manuscripts dealing with alchemy have been found, notably that of Almasatus, which
were part of his personal library. He had knowledge of the symbols of which the alchemists made
habitual use. But those that he saw in the book of Abraham the Jew remained dumb for him. In
vain, he copied some of the mysterious pages and set them out in his shop, in the hope that
some visitor conversant with the Cabala would help him to solve the problem. He met with
nothing but the laughter of skeptics and the ignorance of pseudo-scholars just as he would
today if he showed the book of Abraham the Jew either to pretentious occultists or to the scholars
at the Academie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres.
Nicholas Flamel's Journey
For twenty-one years, he pondered the hidden meaning of the book. That is really not that long.
He is favored among men for whom twenty-one years are enough to enable him to find the key of
life. At the end of twenty-one years, Nicolas Flamel had developed in himself sufficient wisdom
and strength to hold out against the storm of light involved by the coming of truth to the heart of
man. Only then did events group themselves harmoniously according to his will and allow him to
realize his desire. For everything good and great that happens to a man is the result of the coordination of his own voluntary effort and a malleable fate.
No one in Paris could help Nicolas Flamel understand the book. Now, this book had been written
by a Jew, and part of its text was in ancient Hebrew. The Jews had recently been driven out of
France by persecution. Nicolas Flamel knew that many of these Jews had migrated to Spain. In
towns such as Malaga and Granada, which were still under the more enlightened dominion of the
Arabs, there lived prosperous communities of Jews and flourishing synagogues, in which
scholars and doctors were bred. Many Jews from the Christian towns of Spain took advantage of
the tolerance extended by the Moorish kings and went to Granada to learn. There they copied
Plato and Aristotle forbidden texts in the rest of Europe and returned home to spread abroad
the knowledge of the ancients and of the Arab masters.
Nicolas Flamel thought that in Spain he might meet some erudite Cabalist who would translate
the book of Abraham for him. Travelling was difficult, and without a strong-armed escort, safe
passage was nearly impossible for a solitary traveler. Flamel made therefore a vow to St James
of Compostela, the patron saint of his parish, to make a pilgrimage. This was also a means of
concealing from his neighbors and friends the real purpose of his journey. The wise and faithful
Pernelle was the only person who was aware of his real plans. He put on the pilgrim's attire and
shell-adorned hat, took the staff, which ensured a certain measure of safety to a traveler in
Christian countries, and started off for Galicia. Since he was a prudent man and did not wish to
expose the precious manuscript to the risks of travel, he contented himself with taking with him a
few carefully copied pages, which he hid in his modest baggage.
Nicolas Flamel has not recounted the adventures that befell him on his journey. Possibly he had
none. It may be that adventures happen only to those who want to have them. He has told us

merely that he went first to fulfil his vow to St James. Then he wandered about Spain, trying to
get into relations with learned Jews. But they were suspicious of Christians, particularly of the
French, who had expelled them from their country. Besides, he had not much time. He had to
remember Pernelle waiting for him, and his shop, which was being managed only by his servants.
To a man of over fifty on his first distant journey, the silent voice of his home makes a powerful
appeal every evening.
In discouragement, he started his homeward journey. His way lay through Leon, where he
stopped for the night at an inn and happened to sup at the same table as a French merchant from
Boulogne, who was travelling on business. This merchant inspired him with confidence and trust,
and he whispered a few words to him of his wish to find a learned Jew. By a lucky chance the
French merchant was in relations with a certain Maestro Canches, an old man who lived at Leon,
immersed in his books. Nothing was easier than to introduce this Maestro Canches to Nicolas
Flamel, who decided to make one more attempt before leaving Spain.
One can easily appreciate the depth of the scene when the profane merchant of Boulogne has
left them, and the two men are face to face. The gates of the ghetto close. Maestro Canches' only
thought is expressed by a few polite words to rid himself as quickly as he can of this French
bookseller, who has deliberately dulled the light in his eye and clothed himself in mediocrity (for
the prudent traveler passes unnoticed). Flamel speaks, reticently at first. He admires the
knowledge of the Jews. Thanks to his trade, he has read a great many books. At last he timidly
lets fall a name, which hitherto has aroused not a spark of interest in anyone to whom he has
spoken the name of Abraham the Jew, prince, priest, Levite, astrologer and philosopher.
Suddenly Flamel sees the eyes of the feeble old man before him light up. Maestro Canches has
heard of Abraham the Jew! He was a great master of the wandering race, perhaps the most
venerable of all the sages who studied the mysteries of the Cabala, a higher initiate, one of those
who rise the higher the better they succeed in remaining unknown. His book existed and
disappeared centuries ago. But tradition says it has never been destroyed, that it is passed from
hand to hand and that it always reaches the man whose destiny it is to receive it. Maestro
Canches has dreamed all his life of finding it. He is very old, close to death, and now the hope
that he has almost given up is near realization. The night goes by, and there is a light over the
two heads bent over their work. Maestro Canches is translating the Hebrew from the time of
Moses. He is explaining symbols that originated in ancient Chaldea. How the years fall from these
two men, inspired by their common belief in truth.
But the few pages that Flamel had brought are not enough to allow the secret to be revealed.
Maestro Canches made up his mind at once to accompany Flamel to Paris, but his extreme age
was an obstacle. Furthermore, Jews were not allowed in France. He vowed to rise above his
infirmity and convert his religion! For many years now, he had been above all religions. So the
two men, united by their indissoluble bond, headed off along the Spanish roads north.
The ways of Nature are mysterious. The nearer Maestro Canches came to the realization of his
dream, the more precarious became his health, and the breath of life weakened in him. Oh God!
he prayed, grant me the days I need, and that I may cross the threshold of death only when I
possess the liberating secret by which darkness becomes light and flesh spirit!
But the prayer was not heard. The inflexible law had appointed the hour of the old man's death.
He fell ill at Orleans, and in spite of all Flamel's care, died seven days later. As he had converted
and Flamel did not want to be suspected of bringing a Jew into France, he had him piously buried
in the church of Sante-Croix and had masses said in his honor. For he rightly thought that a soul
that had striven for so pure an aim and had passed at the moment of its fruition. could not rest in
the realm of disembodied spirits.
Flamel continued his journey and reached Paris, where he found Pernelle, his shop, his copyists,
and his manuscripts safe and sound. He laid aside his pilgrim's staff. But now everything was

changed. It was with a joyous heart that he went his daily journey from house to shop, that he
gave writing lessons to illiterates and discussed Hermetic science with the educated. From
natural prudence, he continued to feign ignorance, in which he succeeded all the more easily
because knowledge was within him. What Maestro Canches had already taught him in
deciphering a few pages of the book of Abraham the Jew was sufficient to allow his
understanding of the whole book. He spent three years more in searching and in completing his
knowledge, but at the end of this period, the transmutation was accomplished. Having learned
what materials were necessary to put together beforehand, he followed strictly the method of
Abraham the Jew and changed a half-pound of mercury first into silver, and then into virgin gold.
And simultaneously, he accomplished the same transmutation in his soul. From his passions,
mixed in an invisible crucible, the substance of the eternal spirit emerged.
The Philosopher's Stone
From this point, according to historical records, the little bookseller became rich. He established
many low-income houses for the poor, founded free hospitals, and endowed churches. But he did
not use his riches to increase his personal comfort or to satisfy his vanity. He altered nothing in
his modest life. With Pernelle, who had helped him in his search for the Philosopher's Stone, he
devoted his life to helping his fellow men. "Husband and wife lavished succor on the poor,
founded hospitals, built or repaired cemeteries, restored the front of Saint Genevieve des Ardents
and endowed the institution of the Quinze-Vingts, the blind inmates of which, in memory of this
fact, came every year to the church of Saint Jacques la Boucherie to pray for their benefactor, a
practice which continued until 1789," wrote historian Louis Figuier.
At the same time that he was learning how to make gold out of any material, he acquired the
wisdom of despising it in his heart. Thanks to the book of Abraham the Jew, he had risen above
the satisfaction of his senses and the turmoil of his passions. He knew that man attains
immortality only through the victory of spirit over matter, by essential purification, by the
transmutation of the human into the divine. He devoted the last part of his life to what Christians
call the working out of personal salvation. But he attained his object without fasting or asceticism,
keeping the unimportant place that destiny had assigned him, continuing to copy manuscripts,
buying and selling, in his new shop in the rue Saint-Jacques la Boucherie. For him, there was no
more mystery about the Cemetery of the Innocents, which was near his house and under the
arcades of which he liked to walk in the evenings. If he had the vaults and monuments restored at
his own expense, it was nothing more than compliance with the custom of his time. He knew that
the dead who had been laid to rest there were not concerned with stones and inscriptions and
that they would return, when their hour came, in different forms, to perfect themselves and die
anew. He knew the trifling extent to which he could help them. Yet he had no temptation to
divulge the secret that had been entrusted to him through the book, for he was able to measure
the lowest degree of virtue necessary for the possession of it, and he knew that the revelation of
the secret to an undeveloped soul only increased the imperfection of that soul.
And when he was illuminating a manuscript and putting in with a fine brush a touch of skyblue
into the eye of an angel, or of white into a wing, no smile played on his grave face, for he knew
that pictures are useful to children; moreover, it is possible that beautiful fantasies which are
pictured with love and sincerity may become realities in the dream of death. Though he knew how
to make gold, Nicolas Flamel made it only three times in the whole of his life and then, not for
himself, for he never changed his way of life; he did it only to mitigate the evils that he saw
around him. And this is the single touchstone that convinces that he really attained the state of
adept.
This "touchstone" test can be used by everyone and at all times. To distinguish a man's
superiority, there is but a single sign: a practical and not an alleged-contempt for riches. However
great may be a man's active virtues or the radiant power of his intelligence, if they are
accompanied by the love of money that most eminent men possess, it is certain that they are

tainted with baseness. What they create under the hypocritical pretext of good will bear within it
the seeds of decay. Unselfishness and innocence alone is creative, and it alone can help to raise
man.
Flamel's generous gifts aroused curiosity and even jealousy. It seemed amazing that a poor
bookseller should found almshouses and hospitals should build houses with low rents, churches
and convents. Rumors reached the ears of the king, Charles VI, who ordered Cramoisi, a
member of the Council of State, to investigate the matter. But thanks to Flamel's prudence and
reticence, the result of the inquiries was favorable to him.
The rest of Flamel's life passed without special event. It was actually the life of a scholar. He went
from his house in the rue de Marivaux to his shop. He walked in the Cemetery of the Innocents,
for the imagination of death was pleasant to him. He handled beautiful parchments. He
illuminated missals. He paid devout attention to Pernelle as she grew old, and he knew that life
holds few better things than the peace of daily work and a calm affection.
The "Death" of Flamel
Pernelle died first; Nicolas Flamel reached the age of eighty. He spent the last years of his life
writing books on alchemy. He carefully settled his affairs and planned how he was to be buried: at
the end of the nave of Saint Jacques la Boucherie. The tombstone to be laid over his body had
already been made. On this stone, in the middle of various figures, there was carved a sun above
a key and a closed book. It contains the symbols of his life and can still be seen at his gravesite in
the Musee de Cluny in Paris. His death, to which he joyfully looked forward, was as circumspect
and as perfect as his life.
As it is equally useful to study men's weaknesses as their finest qualities, we may mark Flamel's
weakness. This sage, who attached importance only to the immortality of his soul and despised
the ephemeral form of the body, was inspired as he grew old with a strange taste for the
sculptural representation of his body and face. Whenever he had a church built, or even restored,
he requested the sculptor to represent him, piously kneeling, in a comer of the pediment of the
facade. He had himself twice sculptured on an arch in the Cemetery of the Innocents: once as he
was in his youth and once old and infirm. When he had a new house built in the rue de
Montmorency, on the outskirts of Paris, eleven saints were carved on the front, but a side door
was surmounted with a bust of Flamel.
The bones of sages seldom rest in peace in their grave. Perhaps Nicolas Flamel knew this and
tried to protect his remains by ordering a tombstone of great weight and by having a religious
service held for him twelve times a year. But these precautions were useless. Hardly was Flamel
dead when the report of his alchemical powers and of his concealment somewhere of an
enormous quantity of gold spread through Paris and the world. Everyone who was seeking the
famous projection powder, which turns all substances into gold, came prowling round all the
places where he had lived in the hope of finding a minute portion of the precious powder. It was
said also that the symbolical figures which he had had sculptured on various monuments gave,
for those who could decipher it, the formula of the Philosopher's Stone. There was not a single
alchemist but came in pilgrimage to study the sacred science on the, stones of Saint-Jacques- la
Boucherie, or the Cemetery of the Innocents. The sculptures and inscriptions were broken off
under cover of darkness and removed. The cellars of his house were searched and the walls
examined.
According to author Albert Poisson, towards the middle of the sixteenth century a man who had a
well-known name and good credentials, which were no doubt fictitious, presented himself before
the parish board of Saint-Jacques la Boucherie. He said he wished to carry out the vow of a dead
friend, a pious alchemist, who, on his deathbed, had given him a sum of money with which to

repair Flamel's house. The board accepted the offer. The unknown man had the cellars
ransacked under the pretext of strengthening the foundations; wherever he saw a hieroglyph he
found some reason for knocking down the wall at that point. Having found nothing, he
disappeared, forgetting to pay the workmen. Not long afterwards, a Capuchin friar and a German
baron are said to have discovered in the house some stone vials full of a reddish powder
allegedly the projection powder. By the seventeenth century, the various houses which had
belonged to Flamel were despoiled of their ornaments and decorations, and there was nothing of
them left but the four bare walls.
History of the Book of Abraham the Jew
What had happened to the book of Abraham the Jew ? Nicolas Flamel had bequeathed his
papers and library to a nephew named Perrier, who was interested in alchemy and of whom he
was very fond. Absolutely nothing is known of Perrier. He no doubt benefited by his uncle's
teachings and spent a sage's life in the munificent obscurity that Flamel prized so dearly, but had
not been able altogether to maintain during the last years of his life. For two centuries the
precious heritage was handed down from father to son, without anything being heard of it. Traces
of it are found again in the reign of Louis XIII. A descendant of Flamel, named Dubois, who must
still have possessed a supply of the projection powder, threw off the wise reserve of his ancestor
and used the powder to dazzle his contemporaries. In the presence of the King, he changed
leaden balls with it into gold. As a result of this experiment, it is known he had many interviews
with Cardinal de Richelieu, who wished to extract his secret. Dubois, who possessed the powder
but was unable to understand either Flamel's manuscripts or the book of Abraham the Jew, could
tell him nothing and was soon imprisoned at Vincennes. It was found that he had committed
certain offences in the past, and this enabled Richelieu to get him condemned to death and
confiscate his property for his own benefit. At the same time the proctor of the Chitelet, no doubt
by order of Richelieu, seized the houses that Flamel had owned and had them searched from top
to bottom. About this time, at the church of Saint-Jacques la Boucherie, robbers made their way
in during the night, lifted Flamel's tombstone and broke open his coffin. It was after this incident
that the rumor spread that the coffin had been found empty, and that it had never contained the
body of Flamel, who was supposed to be still alive.
Through whatever means, it is believed Richelieu took possession of the book of Abraham the
Jew. He built a laboratory at the Chateau of Rueil, which he often visited to read through the
master's manuscripts and to try to interpret the sacred hieroglyphs. But that which a sage like
Flamel had been able to understand only after twenty-one years of meditation was not likely to be
at once accessible to a politician like Richelieu. Knowledge of the mutations of matter, of life and
death, is more complex than the art of planning strategies or administering a kingdom. Richelieu's
search gave no good results.
On the death of the cardinal, all traces of the book were lost, or rather, all traces of the text, for
the diagrams have often been reproduced. Indeed, the book must have been copied, for it is
recorded in the seventeenth century that the author of the Tresor des Recherches et Antiquites
Gauloises made a journey to Milan to see a copy which belonged to the Seigneur of Cabrieres. In
any case, the mysterious book has now disappeared. Perhaps a copy or the original itself rests
under the dust of some provincial library. And it may be that a wise fate will send it at the proper
time to a man who has the patience to ponder it, the knowledge to interpret it, the wisdom not to
divulge it too soon.
Is Nicholas Flamel Still Alive?
But the mystery of the story of Flamel, which seemed to have come to an end, was revived in the
seventeenth century. Louis VIV sent an archeologist named Paul Lucas on a mission to the East.
He was to study antiquities and bring back any inscriptions or documents that could help forward
the modest scientific efforts then being made in France. A scholar had in those days to be both a

soldier and an adventurer. Paul Lucas united in himself the qualities of a Salomon Reinach and a
Casanova. He was captured by Barbary corsairs, who robbed him, according to his own story, of
the treasures he had brought from Greece and Palestine. The most valuable contribution that this
official emissary made to science is summarized in the story he tells in his Voyage dans la
Turquie, which he published in 1719. His account enables men of faith to reconstitute part of the
history of the book of Abraham the Jew.
The story goes as follows: At Broussa Paul Lucas made the acquaintance of a kind of
philosopher, who wore Turkish clothes, spoke almost every known language and, in outward
appearance, belonged to the type of man of whom it is said that they " have no age." Thanks to
his own cultured presence, Lucas came to know him fairly well, and this is what he learned. This
philosopher was a member of a group of seven philosophers, who belonged to no particular
country and traveled all over the world, having no other aim than the search for wisdom and their
own development. Every twenty years they met at a pre-determined place, which happened that
year to be Broussa. According to him, human life ought to have an infinitely longer duration than
we admit; the average length should be a thousand years. A man could live a thousand years if
he had knowledge of the Philosopher's Stone, which, besides being knowledge of the
transmutation of metals, was also knowledge of the Elixir of life. The sages possessed it and kept
it for themselves. In the West, there were only a few such sages. Nicolas Flamel had been one of
them. Paul Lucas was astonished that a Turk, whom he had met by chance at Broussa, should
be familiar with the story of Flamel. He was still more astonished when the Turk told him how the
book of Abraham the Jew had come into Flamel's possession, for hitherto no one had known this.
Abraham the Jew was a member of our group," the man told him. "He had determined not to
lose sight of the descendants of his brothers who had taken refuge in France. He had a desire to
see them, and in spite of all we could do to dissuade him he went to Paris. He made the
acquaintance there of a rabbi who was seeking the Philosopher's Stone, and our friend became
intimate with the rabbi and was able to explain much to him. But before he left the country the
rabbi, by an act of treachery, killed our brother to get possession of his book and papers. The
rabbi was arrested, convicted of this and other crimes and burned alive. The persecution of the
Jews in France began not long afterwards, and they were expelled from the country. The book of
Abraham was sold to Flamel by a Jewish man who did not know its value and was anxious to get
rid of it before leaving Paris. Having discovered the Philosopher's Stone, Flamel was able to
remain alive in the physical form he possessed at the time of his discovery. Pernelle's and his
own funerals and the minute care he bestowed on the arrangements for them had been nothing
but clever shams.
But the most amazing thing that Paul Lucas heard was the statement made by the Turk that both
Flamel and his wife Pernelle were still alive! Having discovered the Philosopher's Stone, Flamel
had been able to remain alive in the physical form he possessed at the time of his discovery.
Pernelle's and his own funerals and the minute care he bestowed on the arrangements for them
had been nothing but clever shams. He had started out for India, the country of the initiates,
where he still lived. The publication of Paul Lucas' book created a great sensation. In the
seventeenth century, like today, there lived discerning men who believed that all truth came out of
the East and that there were in India adepts who possessed powers infinitely greater than those
that science so parsimoniously metes out to us. In fact, this is a belief that has existed at every
period in modern human history.
Was Nicolas Flamel one of these adepts? Even if he was, can it reasonably be presumed that he
was alive three centuries after his supposed death, by virtue of a deeper study than had yet been
made of the life force and the means of prolonging it? Is it relevant to compare with Paul Lucas'
story another tradition reported by Abbe Vilain, who says that in the seventeenth century, Flamel
visited Monsieur Desalleurs, the French ambassador to the Sublime Porte? Every man, according
to his feeling for the miraculous, must come to his own conclusion. I think, myself, that in
accordance with the wisdom which he had always shown, Nicolas Flamel, after his discovery of

the Philosopher's Stone, would have had no temptation to evade death; for he regarded death
merely as the transition to a better state. In obeying, without seeking escape, the ancient and
simple law that reduces man to dust when the curve of his life is ended, he gave proof of a
wisdom that is none the less beautiful for being widespread.
(Magicians, Seers, and Mystics by Reginald Merton)

The Testament of Nicolas Flamel

Written in France in the late 1750s and published in London in 1806. The original
document was written in the hand of Nicolas Flamel in a coded alphabet
consisting of 96 letters. It was written in secrecy and intended only for his
nephew. A Parisian scribe named Father Pernetti and a Monsieur de Saint Marc
were finally able to break the code in 1758.
See Biography of Nicolas Flamel.

1. I Nicholas Flamel, a scrivener of Paris, in the year 1414, in the reign of our
gracious Prince Charles VI, whom God preserve; and after the death of my
faithful partner Perenelle, am seized with a desire and a delight, in remembrance
of her, and in your behalf, dear nephew, to write out the whole magistery of the
secret of the Powder of Projection, or the Philosophical Tincture, which God hath
willed to impart to his very insignificant servant, and which I have found out, as
thou also wilt find out in working as I shall declare unto you.
2. And for this cause do not forget to pray to God to bestow on thee the
understanding of the reason of the truth of nature, which thou wilt see in this
book, wherein I have written the secrets word for word, sheet by sheet, and also
as I have done and wrought with thy dear aunt Perenelle, whom I very much
regret.
3. Take heed before thou workest, to seek the right way as a man of
understanding. The reason of nature is Mercury, Sun and Moon, as I have said in
my book, in which are those figures which thou seest under the arches of the
Innocents at Paris. But I erred greatly upwards of 23 years and a half, in
labouring without being able to marry the Moon, that is quicksilver, to the Sun,
and to extract from them the seminal dung, which is a deadly poison; for I was
then ignorant of the agent or medium, in order to fortify the Mercury: for without
this agent, Mercury is as common water.
4. Know in what manner Mercury is to be fortified by a metallic agent, without
which it never can penetrate into the belly of the Sun and of the Moon; afterward
it must be hardened, which cannot be affected without the sulfurous spirit of gold
or silver. You must therefore first open them with a metallic agent, that is to say
with royal Saturnia, and afterward you must actuate the Mercury by a philosophic

means, that you may afterward by this Mercury dissolve into a liquor gold and
Luna, and draw from their putrefaction the generative dung.
5. And know thou, that there is no other way nor means to work in this art, than
that which I give thee word for word; an operation, unless it be taught as I now
do, not at all easy to perform, but which on the contrary is very difficult to find out.
6. Believe steadfastly, that the whole philosophic industry consists in the
preparation of the Mercury of the wise, for in it is the whole of what we are
seeking for, and which has always been sought for by all ancient wise men; and
that we, no more than they, have done nothing without this Mercury, prepared
with Sun or Moon: for without these three, there is nothing in the whole world
capable of accomplishing the said philosophical and medicinal tincture. It is
expedient then that we learn to extract from them the living and spiritual seed.
7. Aim therefore at nothing but Sun, Moon and Mercury prepared by a
philosophical industry, which wets not the hands, but the metal, and which has in
itself a metallic sulfurous soul, namely, the ignited light of sulfur. And in order that
you may not stray from the right path, apply yourself to metals; for there the
aforesaid sulfur is found in all; but thou wilt easily find it, even almost similar to
gold, in the cavern and depths of Mars, which is iron, and of Venus, which is
copper, nearly as much in the one as in the other; and even if you pay attention
to it, this sulfur has the power of tingeing moist and cold Luna, which is fine
silver, into pure yellow and good Sun; but this ought to be done by a spiritual
medium, viz. the key which opens all metals, which I am going to make known to
you. Learn therefore, that among the minerals there is one which is a thief, and
eats up all except Sun and Moon, who render the thief very good; for when he
has them in his belly, he is good to prepare the quicksilver, as I shall presently
make known to you.
8. Therefore do not stray out of the right road, but trust to my words, and then
give thyself up to the practice, which I am going to bestow on thee in the name of
the Father, of Son, and Holy Ghost.
The Practice.
9. Take thou in the first place the eldest or first-born child of Saturn, not the
vulgar, 9 parts; of the saber chalibs of the God of War, 4 parts. Put this latter into
a crucible, and when it comes to a melting redness, cast therein the 9 parts of
Saturn, and immediately this will redden the other. Cleanse thou carefully the filth
that arises on the surface of the saturnia, with saltpetre and tartar, four or five
times. The operation will be rightly done when thou seest upon the matter an
astral sign like a star.
10. Then is made the key and the saber, which opens and cuts through all
metals, but chiefly Sun, Moon and Venus, which it eats, devours and keeps in his
belly, and by this means thou art in the right road of truth, if thou has operated
properly. For this Saturnia is the royal triumphant herb, for it is a little imperfect

king, whom we raise up by a philosophic artifice to the degree of the greatest

glory and honor. It is also the queen, that is to say the Moon and the wife of the
Sun: it is therefore both male and female, and our hermaphrodite Mercury. This
Mercury or Saturnia is represented in the seven first pages of the book of
Abraham the Jew, by two serpent encircling a golden rod. Take care to prepare a
sufficient quantity of it, for much is required, that is to say about 12 or 13 lbs. of it,
or even more, according as you wish to work on a large or a small scale.
11. Marry thou therefore the young god Mercury, that is to say quicksilver with
this which is the philosophic Mercury, that you may actuate by him and fortify the
said running quicksilver, seven or even ten or eleven times with the said agent,
which is called the key, or a steel sharpened saber, for it cuts, scythes and
penetrates all the bodies of the metals. Then wilt thou have the double and treble
water represented by the rose tree in the book of Abraham the Jew, which issues
out of the foot of an oak, namely our Saturnia, which is the royal key, and goes to
precipitate itself into the abyss, as says the same author, that is to say, into the
receiver, adapted to the neck of the retort, where the double Mercury throws itself
by means of a suitable fire.
12. But here are found thorns and insuperable difficulties, unless God reveals
this secret, or a master bestows it. For Mercury does not marry with royal
Saturnia: it is experient to find a secret means to unite them: for unless thou
knowest the artifice by which this union and peace are effected between these
aforesaid argent-vives, you will do nothing to any purpose. I would not conceal
any thing from thee, my dear nephew; I tell thee, therefore, that without Sun or
Moon this work will profit thee nothing. Thou must therefore cause this old man,
or voracious wolf, to devour gold or silver in the weight and measure as I am now
about to inform thee. Listen therefore to my words, that thou mayest not err, as I
have done in this work. I say, therefore, that you must give gold to our old dragon
to eat. Remark how well you ought to operate. For if you give but little gold to the
melted Saturnia, the gold is indeed opened, but the quicksilver will not take; and
here is an incongruity, which is not at all profitable. I have a long while and
greatly laboured in this affliction, before I found out the means to succeed in it. If
therefore you give him much gold to devour, the gold will not indeed be so much
opened nor disposed, but then it will take the quicksilver, and they will both
marry. Thus the means is discovered. Conceal this secret, for it is the whole, and
neither trust it to paper, or to any thing else which may be seen. For we should
become the cause of great mischief. I give it thee under the seal of secrecy and
of thy conscience, for the love I bear thee.
13. Take thou ten ounces of the red Sun, that is to so say, very fine, clean and
purified nine or ten times by means of the voracious wolf alone: two ounces of
the royal Saturnia; melt this in a crucible, and when it is melted, cast into it the
ten ounces of fine gold; melt these two together, and stir them with a lighted
charcoal. Then will thy gold be a little opened. Pour it on a marble slab or into an
iron mortar, reduce it to a powder, and grind it well with three pounds of
quicksilver. Make them to curd like cheese, in the grinding and working them to

and fro: wash this amalgama with pure common water until it comes out clear,
and that the whole mass appears clear and white like fine Luna. The conjunction
of the gold with the royal golden Saturnia is effected, when the mass is soft to the
touch like butter.
14. Take this mass, which thou wilt gently dry with linen or fine cloth, with great
care: this is our lead, and our mass of Sun and Moon, not the vulgar, but the
philosophical. Put it into a good retort of crucible earth, but much better of steel.
Place the retort in a furnace, and adapt a receiver to it: give fire by degrees. Two
hours after increase your fire so that the Mercury may pass into the receiver: this
Mercury is the water of the blowing rose-tree; it is also the blood of the innocents
slain in the book of Abraham the Jew. You may now suppose that this Mercury
has eat up a little of the body of the king, and that it will have much more strength
to dissolve the other part of it hereafter, which will be more covered by the body
of the Saturnia. Thou has now ascended one degree or step of the ladder of the
art.
15. Take the feces out of the retort; melt them in a crucible in a strong fire: cast
into it four ounces of the Saturnia, (and) nine ounces of the Sun. Then the Sun is
expanded in the said feces, and much more opened that at the first time, as the
Mercury has more vigor than before, it will have the strength and virtue of
penetrating the gold, and of eating more of it, and of filling his belly with it by
degrees. Operate therefore as at first; marry the aforesaid Mercury, stronger one
degree with this new mass in grinding the whole together; they will take like
butter and cheese; wash and grind them several times, until all the blackness is
got out: dry it as aforesaid; put the whole into the retort, and operate as thou
didst before, by giving during two hours, a weak fire, and then strong, sufficient to
drive out, and cause the Mercury to fall into the receiver; then wilt thou have the
Mercury still more actuated, and thou wilt have ascended to the second degree
of the philosophic ladder.
16. Repeat the same work, by casting in the Saturnia in due weight, that is to
say, by degrees, and operating as before, till thou hast reached the 10th step of
the philosophic ladder; then take thy rest. For the aforesaid Mercury is ignited,
actuated, wholly engrossed and full of the male sulfur, and fortified with the astral
juice which was in the deep bowels of the gold and of our saturnine dragon. Be
assured that I am now writing for thee things which by no philosopher was ever
declared or written. For this Mercury is the wonderful caduceus, of which the
sages have so much spoken in their books, and which they attest has the power
of itself of accomplishing the philosophic work, and they say the truth, as I have
done it myself by it alone, and thou wilt be enabled to do it thyself, if thou art so
disposed: for it is this and none else which is the proximate matter and the root of
all the metals.
17. Now is done and accomplished the preparation of the Mercury, rendered
cutting and proper to dissolve into its nature gold and silver, to work out naturally

and simply the Philosophic Tincture, or the powder transmuting all metals into
gold and silver.
18. Some believe they have the whole magistery, when they have the heavenly
Mercury prepared; but they are grossly deceived. It is for this cause they find
thorns before they pluck the rose, for want of understanding. It is true indeed,
that were they to understand the weight, the regimen of the fire, and the suitable
way, they would not have much to do, and could not fail even if they would. But in
this art there is a way to work. Learn therefore and observe well how to operate,
in the manner I am about to relate to you.
19. In the name of God, thou shalt take of thy animated Mercury what quantity
thou pleasest; thou wilt put it into a glass vessel by itself; or two or four parts of
the Mercury with two parts of the golden Saturnia; that is to say, one of the Sun
and two of the Saturnia; the whole finely conjoined like butter, washed, cleansed
and dried; and thou wilt lute thy vessel with the lute of wisdom. Place it in a
furnace on warm ashes at the degree of the heat of an hen sitting on her eggs.
Leave this said Mercury so prepared to ascend and descend for the space of 40
or 50 days, until thou seest forming in thy vessel a white or red sulfur, called
philosophic sublimate, which issues out of the reins of the said Mercury. Thou
wilt collect this sulfur with a feather: it is the living Sun and the living Moon, which
Mercury begets out of itself.
20. Take this white or red sulfur, triturate it in a glass or marble mortar, and pour
on it, in sprinking it, a third part of its weight of the Mercury from which this sulfur
has been drawn. With these two make a paste like butter: put again this mixture
into an oval glass; place it in a furnace on a suitable fire of ashes, mild, and
disposed with a philosophic industry. Concoct until the said Mercury is changed
into sulfur, and during this coction, thou wilt see wonderful things in thy vessel,
that is to say, all the colors which exist in the world, which thou canst not behold
without lifting up thy heart to God in gratitude for so great a gift.
21. When thou has attained to the purple red, thou must gather it: for then the
alchymical powder is made, transmuting every metal into fine pure and neat gold,
which thou maist multiply by watering it as thou hast already done, grinding it
with fresh Mercury, concocting it in the same vessel, furnace and fire, and the
time will be much shorter, and its virtue ten times stronger.
22. This then is the whole magistery done with Mercury alone, which some do
not believe to be true, because they are weak and stupid, and not at all able to
comprehend this work.
23. Shouldest thou desire to operate in another way, take of fine Sun in fine
powder or in very thin leaves: make a paste of it with seven parts of thy
philosophic Mercury, which is our Luna: put them both into an oval glass vessel
well luted; place it in a furnace; give a very strong fire, that is to say, such as will
keep lead in fusion; for then thou has found out the true regimen of the fire; and

let thy Mercury, which is the philosophical wind, ascend and descend on the
body of the gold, which it eats up by degrees, and carries in its belly. Concoct it
until the gold and Mercury do no more ascend and descend, but both remain
quiet, and then will peace and union be effected between the two dragons, which
are fire and water both together.
24. Then wilt thou see in thy vessel a great blackness like that of melted pitch,
which is the sign of the death and putrefaction of the gold, and the key of the
whole magistery. Cause it therefore to resuscitate by concocting it, and be not
weary with concocting it: during this period divers changes will take place; that is
to say, the matter will pass through all the colors, the black, the ash color, the
blue, the green, the white, the orange, and finally the red as red as blood or the
crimson poppy: aim only at this last color; for it is the true sulfur, and the
alchymical powder. I say nothing precisely about the time; for that depends on
the industry of the artist; but thou canst not fail, by working as I have shown.
25. If thou are disposed to multiply thy powder, take one part thereof, and water it
with two parts of thy animated Mercury; make it into a soft and smooth paste; put
it in a vessel as thou hast already done, in the same furnace and fire, and
concoct it. This second turn of the philosophic wheel will be done in less time
than the first, and thy powder will have ten times more strength. Let is wheel
about again even a thousand times, and as much as thou wilt. Thou wilt then
have a treasure without price, superior to all there is in the world, and thou canst
desire nothing more here below, for thou hast both health and riches, if thou
useth them properly.
26. Thou hast now the treasure of all worldly felicity, which I a poor country clown
of Pointoise did accomplish three times in Paris, in my house, in the street des
Ecrivains, near the chapel of St. Jacques de la Boucherie, and which I Flammel
give thee, for the love I bear thee, to the honour of God, for His glory, for the
praise of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

The Testament of Nicolas Flamel

Written in France in the late 1750s and published in London in 1806. The original
document was written in the hand of Nicolas Flamel in a coded alphabet
consisting of 96 letters. It was written in secrecy and intended only for his
nephew. A Parisian scribe named Father Pernetti and a Monsieur de Saint Marc
were finally able to break the code in 1758.
See Biography of Nicolas Flamel.

1. I Nicholas Flamel, a scrivener of Paris, in the year 1414, in the reign of our
gracious Prince Charles VI, whom God preserve; and after the death of my
faithful partner Perenelle, am seized with a desire and a delight, in remembrance

of her, and in your behalf, dear nephew, to write out the whole magistery of the
secret of the Powder of Projection, or the Philosophical Tincture, which God hath
willed to impart to his very insignificant servant, and which I have found out, as
thou also wilt find out in working as I shall declare unto you.
2. And for this cause do not forget to pray to God to bestow on thee the
understanding of the reason of the truth of nature, which thou wilt see in this
book, wherein I have written the secrets word for word, sheet by sheet, and also
as I have done and wrought with thy dear aunt Perenelle, whom I very much
regret.
3. Take heed before thou workest, to seek the right way as a man of
understanding. The reason of nature is Mercury, Sun and Moon, as I have said in
my book, in which are those figures which thou seest under the arches of the
Innocents at Paris. But I erred greatly upwards of 23 years and a half, in
labouring without being able to marry the Moon, that is quicksilver, to the Sun,
and to extract from them the seminal dung, which is a deadly poison; for I was
then ignorant of the agent or medium, in order to fortify the Mercury: for without
this agent, Mercury is as common water.
4. Know in what manner Mercury is to be fortified by a metallic agent, without
which it never can penetrate into the belly of the Sun and of the Moon; afterward
it must be hardened, which cannot be affected without the sulfurous spirit of gold
or silver. You must therefore first open them with a metallic agent, that is to say
with royal Saturnia, and afterward you must actuate the Mercury by a philosophic
means, that you may afterward by this Mercury dissolve into a liquor gold and
Luna, and draw from their putrefaction the generative dung.
5. And know thou, that there is no other way nor means to work in this art, than
that which I give thee word for word; an operation, unless it be taught as I now
do, not at all easy to perform, but which on the contrary is very difficult to find out.
6. Believe steadfastly, that the whole philosophic industry consists in the
preparation of the Mercury of the wise, for in it is the whole of what we are
seeking for, and which has always been sought for by all ancient wise men; and
that we, no more than they, have done nothing without this Mercury, prepared
with Sun or Moon: for without these three, there is nothing in the whole world
capable of accomplishing the said philosophical and medicinal tincture. It is
expedient then that we learn to extract from them the living and spiritual seed.
7. Aim therefore at nothing but Sun, Moon and Mercury prepared by a
philosophical industry, which wets not the hands, but the metal, and which has in
itself a metallic sulfurous soul, namely, the ignited light of sulfur. And in order that
you may not stray from the right path, apply yourself to metals; for there the
aforesaid sulfur is found in all; but thou wilt easily find it, even almost similar to
gold, in the cavern and depths of Mars, which is iron, and of Venus, which is
copper, nearly as much in the one as in the other; and even if you pay attention

to it, this sulfur has the power of tingeing moist and cold Luna, which is fine
silver, into pure yellow and good Sun; but this ought to be done by a spiritual
medium, viz. the key which opens all metals, which I am going to make known to
you. Learn therefore, that among the minerals there is one which is a thief, and
eats up all except Sun and Moon, who render the thief very good; for when he
has them in his belly, he is good to prepare the quicksilver, as I shall presently
make known to you.
8. Therefore do not stray out of the right road, but trust to my words, and then
give thyself up to the practice, which I am going to bestow on thee in the name of
the Father, of Son, and Holy Ghost.
The Practice.
9. Take thou in the first place the eldest or first-born child of Saturn, not the
vulgar, 9 parts; of the saber chalibs of the God of War, 4 parts. Put this latter into
a crucible, and when it comes to a melting redness, cast therein the 9 parts of
Saturn, and immediately this will redden the other. Cleanse thou carefully the filth
that arises on the surface of the saturnia, with saltpetre and tartar, four or five
times. The operation will be rightly done when thou seest upon the matter an
astral sign like a star.
10. Then is made the key and the saber, which opens and cuts through all
metals, but chiefly Sun, Moon and Venus, which it eats, devours and keeps in his
belly, and by this means thou art in the right road of truth, if thou has operated
properly. For this Saturnia is the royal triumphant herb, for it is a little imperfect
king, whom we raise up by a philosophic artifice to the degree of the greatest
glory and honor. It is also the queen, that is to say the Moon and the wife of the
Sun: it is therefore both male and female, and our hermaphrodite Mercury. This
Mercury or Saturnia is represented in the seven first pages of the book of
Abraham the Jew, by two serpent encircling a golden rod. Take care to prepare a
sufficient quantity of it, for much is required, that is to say about 12 or 13 lbs. of it,
or even more, according as you wish to work on a large or a small scale.
11. Marry thou therefore the young god Mercury, that is to say quicksilver with
this which is the philosophic Mercury, that you may actuate by him and fortify the
said running quicksilver, seven or even ten or eleven times with the said agent,
which is called the key, or a steel sharpened saber, for it cuts, scythes and
penetrates all the bodies of the metals. Then wilt thou have the double and treble
water represented by the rose tree in the book of Abraham the Jew, which issues
out of the foot of an oak, namely our Saturnia, which is the royal key, and goes to
precipitate itself into the abyss, as says the same author, that is to say, into the
receiver, adapted to the neck of the retort, where the double Mercury throws itself
by means of a suitable fire.
12. But here are found thorns and insuperable difficulties, unless God reveals
this secret, or a master bestows it. For Mercury does not marry with royal
Saturnia: it is experient to find a secret means to unite them: for unless thou

knowest the artifice by which this union and peace are effected between these
aforesaid argent-vives, you will do nothing to any purpose. I would not conceal
any thing from thee, my dear nephew; I tell thee, therefore, that without Sun or
Moon this work will profit thee nothing. Thou must therefore cause this old man,
or voracious wolf, to devour gold or silver in the weight and measure as I am now
about to inform thee. Listen therefore to my words, that thou mayest not err, as I
have done in this work. I say, therefore, that you must give gold to our old dragon
to eat. Remark how well you ought to operate. For if you give but little gold to the
melted Saturnia, the gold is indeed opened, but the quicksilver will not take; and
here is an incongruity, which is not at all profitable. I have a long while and
greatly laboured in this affliction, before I found out the means to succeed in it. If
therefore you give him much gold to devour, the gold will not indeed be so much
opened nor disposed, but then it will take the quicksilver, and they will both
marry. Thus the means is discovered. Conceal this secret, for it is the whole, and
neither trust it to paper, or to any thing else which may be seen. For we should
become the cause of great mischief. I give it thee under the seal of secrecy and
of thy conscience, for the love I bear thee.
13. Take thou ten ounces of the red Sun, that is to so say, very fine, clean and
purified nine or ten times by means of the voracious wolf alone: two ounces of
the royal Saturnia; melt this in a crucible, and when it is melted, cast into it the
ten ounces of fine gold; melt these two together, and stir them with a lighted
charcoal. Then will thy gold be a little opened. Pour it on a marble slab or into an
iron mortar, reduce it to a powder, and grind it well with three pounds of
quicksilver. Make them to curd like cheese, in the grinding and working them to
and fro: wash this amalgama with pure common water until it comes out clear,
and that the whole mass appears clear and white like fine Luna. The conjunction
of the gold with the royal golden Saturnia is effected, when the mass is soft to the
touch like butter.
14. Take this mass, which thou wilt gently dry with linen or fine cloth, with great
care: this is our lead, and our mass of Sun and Moon, not the vulgar, but the
philosophical. Put it into a good retort of crucible earth, but much better of steel.
Place the retort in a furnace, and adapt a receiver to it: give fire by degrees. Two
hours after increase your fire so that the Mercury may pass into the receiver: this
Mercury is the water of the blowing rose-tree; it is also the blood of the innocents
slain in the book of Abraham the Jew. You may now suppose that this Mercury
has eat up a little of the body of the king, and that it will have much more strength
to dissolve the other part of it hereafter, which will be more covered by the body
of the Saturnia. Thou has now ascended one degree or step of the ladder of the
art.
15. Take the feces out of the retort; melt them in a crucible in a strong fire: cast
into it four ounces of the Saturnia, (and) nine ounces of the Sun. Then the Sun is
expanded in the said feces, and much more opened that at the first time, as the
Mercury has more vigor than before, it will have the strength and virtue of
penetrating the gold, and of eating more of it, and of filling his belly with it by

degrees. Operate therefore as at first; marry the aforesaid Mercury, stronger one
degree with this new mass in grinding the whole together; they will take like
butter and cheese; wash and grind them several times, until all the blackness is
got out: dry it as aforesaid; put the whole into the retort, and operate as thou
didst before, by giving during two hours, a weak fire, and then strong, sufficient to
drive out, and cause the Mercury to fall into the receiver; then wilt thou have the
Mercury still more actuated, and thou wilt have ascended to the second degree
of the philosophic ladder.
16. Repeat the same work, by casting in the Saturnia in due weight, that is to
say, by degrees, and operating as before, till thou hast reached the 10th step of
the philosophic ladder; then take thy rest. For the aforesaid Mercury is ignited,
actuated, wholly engrossed and full of the male sulfur, and fortified with the astral
juice which was in the deep bowels of the gold and of our saturnine dragon. Be
assured that I am now writing for thee things which by no philosopher was ever
declared or written. For this Mercury is the wonderful caduceus, of which the
sages have so much spoken in their books, and which they attest has the power
of itself of accomplishing the philosophic work, and they say the truth, as I have
done it myself by it alone, and thou wilt be enabled to do it thyself, if thou art so
disposed: for it is this and none else which is the proximate matter and the root of
all the metals.
17. Now is done and accomplished the preparation of the Mercury, rendered
cutting and proper to dissolve into its nature gold and silver, to work out naturally
and simply the Philosophic Tincture, or the powder transmuting all metals into
gold and silver.
18. Some believe they have the whole magistery, when they have the heavenly
Mercury prepared; but they are grossly deceived. It is for this cause they find
thorns before they pluck the rose, for want of understanding. It is true indeed,
that were they to understand the weight, the regimen of the fire, and the suitable
way, they would not have much to do, and could not fail even if they would. But in
this art there is a way to work. Learn therefore and observe well how to operate,
in the manner I am about to relate to you.
19. In the name of God, thou shalt take of thy animated Mercury what quantity
thou pleasest; thou wilt put it into a glass vessel by itself; or two or four parts of
the Mercury with two parts of the golden Saturnia; that is to say, one of the Sun
and two of the Saturnia; the whole finely conjoined like butter, washed, cleansed
and dried; and thou wilt lute thy vessel with the lute of wisdom. Place it in a
furnace on warm ashes at the degree of the heat of an hen sitting on her eggs.
Leave this said Mercury so prepared to ascend and descend for the space of 40
or 50 days, until thou seest forming in thy vessel a white or red sulfur, called
philosophic sublimate, which issues out of the reins of the said Mercury. Thou
wilt collect this sulfur with a feather: it is the living Sun and the living Moon, which
Mercury begets out of itself.

20. Take this white or red sulfur, triturate it in a glass or marble mortar, and pour
on it, in sprinking it, a third part of its weight of the Mercury from which this sulfur
has been drawn. With these two make a paste like butter: put again this mixture
into an oval glass; place it in a furnace on a suitable fire of ashes, mild, and
disposed with a philosophic industry. Concoct until the said Mercury is changed
into sulfur, and during this coction, thou wilt see wonderful things in thy vessel,
that is to say, all the colors which exist in the world, which thou canst not behold
without lifting up thy heart to God in gratitude for so great a gift.
21. When thou has attained to the purple red, thou must gather it: for then the
alchymical powder is made, transmuting every metal into fine pure and neat gold,
which thou maist multiply by watering it as thou hast already done, grinding it
with fresh Mercury, concocting it in the same vessel, furnace and fire, and the
time will be much shorter, and its virtue ten times stronger.
22. This then is the whole magistery done with Mercury alone, which some do
not believe to be true, because they are weak and stupid, and not at all able to
comprehend this work.
23. Shouldest thou desire to operate in another way, take of fine Sun in fine
powder or in very thin leaves: make a paste of it with seven parts of thy
philosophic Mercury, which is our Luna: put them both into an oval glass vessel
well luted; place it in a furnace; give a very strong fire, that is to say, such as will
keep lead in fusion; for then thou has found out the true regimen of the fire; and
let thy Mercury, which is the philosophical wind, ascend and descend on the
body of the gold, which it eats up by degrees, and carries in its belly. Concoct it
until the gold and Mercury do no more ascend and descend, but both remain
quiet, and then will peace and union be effected between the two dragons, which
are fire and water both together.
24. Then wilt thou see in thy vessel a great blackness like that of melted pitch,
which is the sign of the death and putrefaction of the gold, and the key of the
whole magistery. Cause it therefore to resuscitate by concocting it, and be not
weary with concocting it: during this period divers changes will take place; that is
to say, the matter will pass through all the colors, the black, the ash color, the
blue, the green, the white, the orange, and finally the red as red as blood or the
crimson poppy: aim only at this last color; for it is the true sulfur, and the
alchymical powder. I say nothing precisely about the time; for that depends on
the industry of the artist; but thou canst not fail, by working as I have shown.
25. If thou are disposed to multiply thy powder, take one part thereof, and water it
with two parts of thy animated Mercury; make it into a soft and smooth paste; put
it in a vessel as thou hast already done, in the same furnace and fire, and
concoct it. This second turn of the philosophic wheel will be done in less time
than the first, and thy powder will have ten times more strength. Let is wheel
about again even a thousand times, and as much as thou wilt. Thou wilt then
have a treasure without price, superior to all there is in the world, and thou canst

desire nothing more here below, for thou hast both health and riches, if thou
useth them properly.
26. Thou hast now the treasure of all worldly felicity, which I a poor country clown
of Pointoise did accomplish three times in Paris, in my house, in the street des
Ecrivains, near the chapel of St. Jacques de la Boucherie, and which I Flammel
give thee, for the love I bear thee, to the honour of God, for His glory, for the
praise of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

The origins of the discipline of alchemy date back at least as far as ancient
Egypt. Most of the alchemical principles known at that time were kept
secret from the common people and expressed publicly only in secret
writings (hieroglyphics) or in the architecture of sacred buildings. That
tradition was carried on during the heyday of alchemy in the Middle Ages in
the alchemists' secret ciphers, coded alphabets, as well as in the
architecture of cathedrals.
Modern archeologists have proven that the holy temples of Egypt and
the cathedrals of the Middle Ages were based on human proportions and
designed to symbolically represent man. In fact, the human form embodied
in sacred architecture is symbolic of the Perfected Man, the final stage of
man's evolution, his ultimate divinization or union with the Divine Mind.

The Great Work of alchemy is to speed up this natural process of

perfection and resurrect the spiritual essence of man that has
become trapped in matter.
Every human being participates in alchemy, whether in a conscious
manner (through the intentional perfection and manifesting of one's higher
nature) or through the tumult and suffering of worldly experiences that
finally lead to increased spiritual awareness.
____________________
"Some have declared that it lies within our choice to gaze continually
upon a world of equal or even greater wonder and beauty. It is said by
these that the experiments of the alchemists are, in fact, related not to the
transmutation of metals, but to the transmutation of the entire universe.
This method, or art, or science, or whatever we choose to call it, is simply
concerned to restore the delights of the primal paradise; to enable men, if
they will, to inhabit a world of joy and splendor. It is perhaps possible that
there is such an experiment, and that there are some who have made it."
- Richard Rolle de Hampole, 1380

Alchemy is the study of the transformative processes involved in the perfection or

evolution of matter.
These are the same processes we must all go through in order to return to our
true home in the Stars.
The Emerald Tablet is the map of our Journey.

History of Alchemy
The Alchemists
To most of us, the word "alchemy" calls up the picture of a medieval and slightly sinister
laboratory in which an aged, black-robed wizard broods over the crucibles and alembics that are
to bring within his reach the Philosopher's Stone, and with that discovery, the formula for the Elixir
of life and the transmutation of metals. But one can scarcely dismiss so lightly the science -- or
art, if you will --that won to its service the lifelong devotion of men of culture and attainment from
every race and clime over a period of thousands of years, for the beginnings of alchemy are
hidden in the mists of time. Such a science is something far more than an outlet for a few
eccentric old men in their dotage.
What was the motive behind their constant strivings, their never-failing patience in the unravelling
of the mysteries, the tenacity of purpose in the face of persecution and ridicule through the
countless ages that led the alchemists to pursue undaunted their appointed way? Something far
greater, surely, than a mere vainglorious desire to transmute the base metals into gold, or to brew
a potion to prolong a little longer this earthly span, for the devotees of alchemy in the main cared
little for such things.
The accounts of their lives almost without exception lead us to believe that they were concerned
with things spiritual rather than with things temporal. They were men inspired by a vision, a vision
of man made perfect, of man freed from disease and the limitations of warring faculties both
mental and physical, standing godlike in the realization of a power that even at this very moment
of time lies hidden in the deeper strata of consciousness, a vision of man made truly in the image
and likeness of the One Divine Mind in its Perfection, Beauty, and Harmony.
To appreciate and understand the adepts' visions, it is necessary to trace the history of their
philosophy. So let us for step back into the past to catch a glimpse of these men, of their work
and ideals, and more important still, of the possibilities that their life-work might bring to those
who today are seeking for fuller knowledge and wider horizons.
Chinese Alchemy
References about alchemy are to be found in the myths and legends of ancient China. From a
book written by Edward Chalmers Werner, a late member of the Chinese Government's
Historiological Bureau in Peking comes this quotation from old Chinese records: "Chang TaoLing, the first Taoist pope, was born in A.D. 35 in the reign of the Emperor Kuang Wu Ti of the
Hari dynasty. His birthplace is variously given as T'ien-mu Shan, Lin-an-Hsien in Chekiang, Fengyang Fu in Anhui, and even in the "Eye of Heaven Mountain." He devoted himself wholly to study
and meditation, declining all offers to enter the service of the state. He preferred to take up his

abode in the mountains of Western China where he persevered in the study of alchemy and in
cultivating the virtues of purity and mental abstraction. From the hands of the alchemist Lao Tzu,
he received supernaturally a mystical treatise, by following the instructions in which he was
successful in his match for the Elixir of Life." This reference demonstrates that alchemy was
studied in China before the commencement of the Christian era and its origin must lie even
further back in Chinese history.
Egyptian Alchemy
From China we now travel to Egypt, from where alchemy as it is known in the West seems to
have sprung. The great Egyptian adept king, named by the Greeks "Hermes Trismegistus" is
thought to have been the founder of the art. Reputed to have lived about 1900 B.C., he was
highly celebrated for his wisdom and skill in the operation of nature, but of the works attributed to
him only a few fragments escaped the destroying hand of the Emperor Diocletian in the third
century A.D. The main surviving documents attributed to him are the Emerald Tablet, the
Asclepian Dialogues, and the Divine Pymander. If we may judge from these fragments (both
preserved in the Latin by Fianus and translated into other languages in the sixteenth century), it
would seem to be of inestimable loss to the world that none of these works have survived in their
entirety.
The famous Emerald Tablet (Tabula Smaragdina) of Hermes is the primary document of
alchemy. There have been various stories of the origin of the tract, one being that the original
emerald slab upon which the precepts were said to be inscribed in Phoenician characters was
discovered in the tomb of Hermes by Alexander the Great. In the Berne edition (1545) of the
Summa Perfectionis, the Latin version is printed under the heading: "The Emerald Tables of
Hermes the Thrice Great Concerning Chymistry, Translator unknown. The words of the secrets of
Hermes, which were written on the Tablet of Emerald found between his hands in a dark cave
wherein his body was discovered buried."
Arabian Alchemy
An Arabic version of the text was discovered in a work ascribed to Jabir (Geber), which was
probably made about the ninth century. In any case, it must be one of the oldest alchemical
fragments known, and that it is a piece of Hermetic teaching I have no doubt, as it corresponds to
teachings of the Thrice-Greatest Hermes as they have been passed down to us in esoteric
circles. The tablet teaches the unity of matter and the basic truth that all form is a manifestation
from one root, the One Thing or Ether. This tablet, in conjunction with the works of the Corpus
Hermeticum are well worth reading, particularly in the light of the general alchemical symbolism.
Unhappily, the Emerald Tablet is all that remains to us of the genuine Egyptian sacred art of
alchemy.
The third century A.D. seems to have been a period when alchemy was widely practiced, but it
was also during this century, in the year 296, that Diocletian sought out and burnt all the Egyptian
books on alchemy and the other Hermetic sciences, and in so doing destroyed all evidence of
any progress made up to that date. In the fourth century, Zosimus the Panopolite wrote his
treatise on The Divine Art of Making Gold and Silver, and in the fifth Morienus, a hermit of Rome,
left his native city and set out to seek the sage Adfar, a solitary adept whose fame had reached
him from Alexandria. Morienus found him, and after gaining his confidence became his disciple.
After the death of his patron, Morienus came into touch with King Calid, and a very attractive work
purporting to be a dialogue between himself and the king is still extant under the name of
Morienus. In this century, Cedrennus also appeared, a magician who professed alchemy.
The next name of note, that of Geber, occurs in or about 750 A.D. Geber's real name was Abou
Moussah Djfar-Al Sell, or simply "The Wise One." Born at Houran in Mesopotamia, he is

generally esteemed by adepts as the greatest of them all after Hermes. Of the five hundred
treatises said to have been composed by him, only three remain to posterity: The Sum of the
Perfect Magistery, The Investigation of Perfection, and his Testament. It is to him, too, that we are
indebted for the first mention of such important compounds as corrosive sublimate, red oxide of
mercury, and nitrate of silver. Skillfully indeed did Geber veil his discoveries, for from his
mysterious style of writing we derive the word "gibberish," but those who have really understood
Geber, his adept peers, declare with one accord that he has declared the truth, albeit disguised,
with great acuteness and precision.
About the same time, Rhasis, another Arabian alchemist, became famous for his practical
displays in the art of transmutation of base metals into gold. In the tenth century, Alfarabi enjoyed
the reputation of being the most learned man of his age, and still another great alchemist of that
century was Avicenna, whose real name was Ebu Cinna. Born at Bokara in 980 A.D., he was the
last of the Egyptian alchemical philosophers of note.
European Alchemy
About the period of the first Crusades, alchemy shifted its center to Spain, where it had been
introduced by the Arabian Moors. In the twelfth Century Artephius wrote The Art of Prolonging
Human Life and is reported to have lived throughout a period of one thousand years. He himself
affirmed this:
"I, Artephius, having learnt all the art in the book of Hermes, was once as others, envious, but
having now lived one thousand years or thereabouts (which thousand years have already passed
over me since my nativity, by the grace of God alone and the use of this admirable
Quintessence), as I have seen, through this long space of time, that men have been unable to
perfect the same magistry on account of the obscurity of the words of the philosophers, moved by
pity and good conscience, I have resolved, in these my last days, to publish in all sincerity and
truly, so that men may have nothing more to desire concerning this work. I except one thing only,
which is not lawful that I should write, because it can be revealed truly only by God or by a
master. Nevertheless, this likewise may be learned from this book, provided one be not stiffnecked and have a little experience."
Of the thirteenth-century literature, a work called Tesero was attributed to Alphonso, the King of
Castile, in 1272. William de Loris wrote Le Roman de Rose in 1282, assisted by Jean de Meung,
who also wrote The Remonstrance of Nature to the Wandering Alchemist and The Reply of the
Alchemist to Nature. Peter d'Apona, born near Padua in 1250, wrote several books on Hermetic
sciences and was accused by the Inquisition of possessing seven spirits (each enclosed in a
crystal vessel) who taught him the seven liberal arts and sciences. He died upon the rack.
Among other famous names appearing about this period is that of Arnold de Villeneuve or
Villanova, whose most famous work is found in the Theatrum Chemicum. He studied medicine in
Paris but was also a theologian and an alchemist. Like his friend, Peter d'Apona, he was accused
of obtaining his knowledge from the devil and was charged by many different people with magical
practices. Although he did not himself fall into the hands of the Inquisition, his books were
condemned to be burnt in Tarragona by that body on account of their heretical content.
Villanova's crime was that he maintained that works of faith and charity are more acceptable in
the eyes of God than the Sacrificial Mass of the Church!
The authority of Albertus Magnus (1234-1314) is undoubtedly to be respected, since he
renounced all material advantages to devote the greater part of a long life to the study of
alchemical philosophy in the seclusion of a cloister. When Albertus died, his fame descended to
his "sainted pupil" Aquinas, who in his Thesaurus Alchimae, speaks openly of the successes of
Albertus and himself in the art of transmutation.

Raymond Lully is one of the medieval alchemists about whose life there is so much conflicting
evidence that it is practically certain that his name was used as a cover by at least one other
adept either at the same or a later period. The enormous output of writings attributed to Lully
(they total about 486 treatises on a variety of subjects ranging from grammar and rhetoric to
medicine and theology) also seems to suggest that his name became a popular pseudonym. Lully
was born in Majorca about the year 1235, and after a somewhat dissolute youth, he was induced,
apparently by the tragic termination of an unsuccessful love affair, to turn his thoughts to religion.
He became imbued with a burning desire to spread the Hermetic teachings among the followers
of Mohammed, and to this end devoted years to the study of Mohammedan writings, the better to
refute the Moslem teachings. He traveled widely, not only in Europe, but in Asia and Africa, where
his religious zeal nearly cost him his life on more than one occasion. Lully is said to have become
acquainted with Arnold de Villanova and the Universal Science somewhat late in life, when his
study of alchemy and the discovery of the Philosophers' Stone increased his former fame as a
zealous Christian.
According to one story, his reputation eventually reached John Cremer, Abbot of Westminster at
the time. After working at alchemy for thirty years, Cremer had still failed to achieve his aim, the
Philosopher's Stone. Cremer therefore sought out Lully in Italy, and having gained his confidence,
persuaded him to come to England, where he introduced him to King Edward II. Lully, being a
great champion of Christendom, agreed to transmute base metals into gold on the condition that
Edward carry on the Crusades with the money. He was given a room in the Tower of London for
his work, and it is estimated that he transmuted 50,000 pounds worth of gold. After a time,
however, Edward became avaricious, and to compel Lully to carry on the work of transmutation,
made him prisoner. However, with Cremer's aid, Lully was able to escape from the Tower and
return to the Continent. Records state that he lived to be one hundred and fifty years of age and
was eventually killed by the Saracens in Asia. At that age he is reputed to have been able to run
and jump like a young man.
During the fourteenth century, the science of alchemy fell into grave disrepute, for the alchemists
claim to transmute metals offered great possibilities to any rogue with sufficient plausibility and
lack of scruple to exploit the credulity or greed of his fellowmen. In fact, there proved to be no lack
either of charlatans or victims. Rich merchants and others greedy for gain were induced to entrust
to the alleged alchemists gold, silver, and precious stones in the hope of getting them multiplied,
and Acts of Parliament were passed in England and Pope's Bulls issued over Christendom to
forbid the practice of alchemy on pain of death. (Although Pope John XXII is said to have
practiced the art himself and to have enriched the Vatican treasury by this means.) Before long,
even the most earnest alchemists were disbelieved. For example, there lived about this time the
two Isaacs Hollandus (a father and son), who were Dutch adepts and wrote De Triplici Ordinari
Exiliris et Lapidis Theoria and Mineralia Opera Sue de Lapide Philosophico. The details of their
operations on metals are the most explicit that had ever been given, yet because of their very
lucidity, their work was widely discounted.
The English Alchemists
In England, the first known alchemist was Roger Bacon, who was a scholar of outstanding
attainment. Born in Somersetshire in 1214, he made extraordinary progress even in his boyhood
studies, and on reaching the required age joined the Franciscan Order. After graduating Oxford,
he moved to Paris where he studied medicine and mathematics. On his return to England, he
applied himself to the study of philosophy and languages with such success that he wrote
grammars of the Latin, Greek, and Hebrew tongues.
Although Bacon has been described as a physician rather than an alchemist, we are indebted to
him for many scientific discoveries. He was almost the only astronomer of his time, and in this
capacity rectified the Julian calendar which, although submitted to Pope Clement IV in 1267, was
not put into practice until a later papacy. He was responsible also for the physical analysis of

convex glasses and lenses, the invention of spectacles and achromatic lenses, and for the theory
of the telescope. As a student of chemistry, he called attention to the chemical role played by air
in combustion, and having carefully studied the properties of saltpeter, taught its purification by
dissolution in water and by crystallization.
Indeed, from his letters we learn that Bacon anticipated most of the achievements of modern
science. He maintained that vessels might be constructed that would be capable of navigation
without manual rowers, and which under the direction of a single man, could travel through the
water at a speed hitherto undreamed of. He also predicted that it would be possible to construct
cars that could be set in motion with amazing speeds ("independently of horses and other
animals") and also flying machines that would beat the air with artificial wings.
It is scarcely surprising that in the atmosphere of superstition and ignorance that reigned in
Europe during the Middle Ages, Bacon's achievements were attributed to his communication with
devils. His fame spread through western Europe not as a savant but as a great magician. His
great services to humanity were met with censure, not gratitude, and to the Church his teachings
seemed particularly pernicious. The Church took her place as one of his foremost adversaries,
and even the friars of his own order refused his writings a place in their library. His persecutions
culminated in 1279 in imprisonment and a forced repentance of his labors in the cause of art and
science.
Among his many writings, there are two or three works on alchemy, from which it is quite evident
that not only did he study and practice the science but that he obtained his final objective, the
Philosopher's Stone. Doubtless during his lifetime, his persecutions led him to conceal carefully
his practice of the Hermetic art and to consider the revelation of such matters unfit for the
uninitiated. "Truth," he wrote, "ought not to be shown to every ribald person, for then it would
become most vile that which, in the hand of a philosopher, is the most precious of all things."
Sir George Ripley, Canon of Bridlington Cathedral in Yorkshire, placed alchemy on a higher level
than many of his contemporaries by dealing with it as a spiritual and not merely a physical
manifestation. He maintained that alchemy is concerned with the mode of our spirit's return to the
God who gave it to us. He wrote in 1471 his Compound of Alchemy with its dedicatory epistle to
King Edward IV. It is also reported in the Canon of Bridlington that he provided funds for the
Knights of St. John by means of the Philosopher's Stone he concocted.
In the sixteenth century, Pierce the Black Monk, wrote the following about the Elixir: "Take earth
of Earth, Earth's Mother (Water of Earth), Fire of Earth, and Water of the Wood. These are to lie
together and then be parted. Alchemical gold is made of three pure soul, as purged as crystal.
Body, seat, and spirit grow into a Stone, wherein there is no corruption. This is to be cast on
Mercury and it shall become most worthy gold." Other works of the sixteenth century include
Thomas Charnock's Breviary of Philosophy and Enigma published in 1572. He also wrote a
memorandum in which he states that he attained the transmuting powder when his hairs were
white with age.
Also in the sixteenth century lived Edward Kelly, born in 1555. He seems to have been an
adventurer of sorts and lost his ears at Lancaster on an accusation of producing forged title
deeds. Dr. John Dee, a widely respected and learned man of the Elizabethan era, was very
interested in Kelly's clairvoyant visions, although it is difficult to determine whether Kelly really
was a genuine seer since his life was such an extraordinary mixture of good and bad character.
In some way or other, Kelly does appear to have come into possession of the Red and White
Tinctures. Elias Ashmole printed at the end of Theatrum Chemicum Britannicum a tract entitled
Sir Edward Kelly's Work that says: "It is generally reported that Doctor Dee and Sir Edward Kelly
were so strangely fortunate as to find a very Iarge quantity of the Elixir in some part of the ruins of
Glastonbury Abbey, which was so incredibly rich in virtue (being one in 272,330), that they lost

much in making projection by way of trial before they finally found out the true height of the
medicine."
In March 1583, a prince of Poland, the Count Palatine of Siradia, Adalbert Alask, while visiting the
Court of Queen Elizabeth, sought to meet with Dr. Dee to discuss his experiments, of which he
became so convinced that he asked Dee and Kelly and their families to accompany him on his
return to Cracow. The prince took them from Cracow to Prague in anticipation of favors at the
hand of Emperor Rudolph II, but their attempt to get into touch with Rudolph was unsuccessful. In
Prague at that time there was a great interest in alchemy, but in 1586, by reason of an edict of
Pope Sixtus V, Dee and Kelly were forced to flee the city. They finally found peace and plenty at
the Castle of Trebona in Bohemia as guests of Count Rosenberg, the Emperor's Viceroy in that
country. During that time Kelly made projection of one minim on an ounce and a quarter of
mercury and produced nearly an ounce of the best gold.
In February 1588, the two men parted ways, Dee making for England and Kelly for Prague, where
Rosenberg had persuaded the Emperor to quash the Papal decree. Through the introduction of
Rosenberg, Kelly was received and honored by Rudolph as one in possession of the Great
Secret of Alchemy. From him he received besides a grant of land and the freedom of the city, a
position of state and apparently a title, since he was known from that time forward as Sir Edward
Kelly. These honors are evidence that Kelly had undoubtedly demonstrated to the Emperor his
knowledge of transmutation, but the powder of projection had now diminished, and to the
Emperor's command to produce it in ample quantities, he failed to accede, being either unable or
unwilling to do so. As a result, Kelly was cast into prison at the Castle of Purglitz near Prague
where he remained until 1591 when he was restored to favor. He was interned a second time,
however, and in 1595, according to chronicles, and while attempting to escape from his prison,
fell from a considerable height and was killed at the age of forty.
In the seventeenth century lived Thomas Vaughan, who used the pseudonym "Eugenius
Philasthes" (and possibly "Eireneus Philalethes" as well) and wrote dozens of influential treatises
on alchemy. Among Vaughan's most noteworthy books are An Open Entrance to the Shut Palace
of the King, Ripley Revived, The Marrow of Alchemy, Metallorum Metamorphosis, Brevis
Manuductio ad Rubinem Coelestum, Fone Chemicae Veritatis, and others to be found in the
Musaeum Hermiticum. Vaughan came from Wales and his writings were regarded as an
illustration of the spiritual approach to alchemy. Yet whatever the various interpretations put upon
his work, Vaughan was undoubtedly endeavoring to show that alchemy was demonstrable, in
every phase of physical, mental, and spiritual reality. His work Lumen de Lumine is an alchemical
discourse that deals with those three aspects. His medicine is a spiritual substance inasmuch as
it is the Quintessence or the Divine Life manifesting through all form, both physical and spiritual.
His gold is the gold of the physical world as well as the wisdom of the spiritual world. His Stone is
the touchstone that transmutes everything and is again both spiritual and physical. For instance,
his statement "the Medicine can only be contained in a glass vessel" signifies a tangible glass
container as well the purified body of the adept.
Thomas Vaughan was a Magus of the Rosicrucian Order, and he knew and understood that the
science of alchemy must manifest throughout all planes of consciousness. Writing as Eireneus
Philalethes in the preface to the An Open Entrance from the Collectanea Chymica (published by
William Cooper in 1684), Vaughan says: "I being an adept anonymous, a lover of learning, and
philosopher, decreed to write this little treatise of medicinal, chemical, and physical secrets in the
year of he world's redemption 1645, in the three and twentieth year of my life, that I may pay my
duty to the Sons of the Art, that I might appear to other adepts as their brother and equal.
Therefore I presage that not a few will be enlightened by these my labors. These are no fables,
but real experiments that I have made and know, as every other adept will conclude by these
lines. In truth, many times I laid aside my pen, deciding to forbear from writing, being rather willing
to have concealed the truth under a mask of envy. But God compelled me to write, and Him I
could in no wise resist who alone knows the heart and unto whom be glory forever. I believe that

many in this last age of the world will be rejoiced with the Great Secret, because I have written so
faithfully, leaving of my own will nothing in doubt for a young beginner. I known many already who
possess it in common with myself and are persuaded that I shall yet be acquainted in the
immediate time to come. May God's most holy will be done therein. I acknowledge myself totally
unworthy of bringing those things about, but in such matters I submit in adoration to Him, to
whom all creation is subject, who created All to this end, and having created, preserves them."
He then goes on to give an account of the transmutation of base metals into silver and gold, and
he gives examples of how the Medicine, administered to some at the point of death, affected their
miraculous recovery. Of another occasion he writes: "On a time in a foreign country, I could have
sold much pure alchemical silver (worth 600 pounds), but the buyers said unto me presently that
they could see the metal was made by Art. When I asked their reasons, they answered: 'We
know the silver that comes from England, Spain, and other places, but this is none of these
kinds.' On hearing this I withdrew suddenly, leaving the silver behind me, along with the money,
and never returning."
Again he remarks: "I have made the Stone. I do not possess it by theft but by the gift of God. I
have made it and daily have it in my power, having formed it often with my own hands. I write the
things that I know."
In the last chapter of the Open Entrance is his message to those who have attained the goal. "He
who hath once, by the blessing of God, perfectly attained this Art," says Vaughan, "I know not
what in the world he can wish but that he may be free from all the snares of wicked men, so as to
serve God without distraction. But it would be a vain thing by outward pomp to seek for vulgar
applause. Such trifles are not esteemed by those who truly have this Art -- nay, rather they
despise them. He therefore whom God has blessed with this talent behaves thus. First, if he
should live a thousand years and everyday provide for a thousand men, he could not want, for he
may increase his Stone at his pleasure, both in weight and virtue so that if a man would, one man
might transmute into perfect gold and silver all the imperfect metals that are in the whole world.
Secondly, he may by this Art make precious stones and gems, such as cannot be paralleled in
Nature for goodness and greatness. Thirdly and lastly, he has a Medicine Universal, both for
prolonging life and curing all diseases, so that one true adept can easily cure all the sick people in
the world. I mean his Medicine is sufficient. Now to the King, eternal, immortal and sole mighty,
be everlasting praise for these His unspeakable gifts and invaluable treasures. Whosoever enjoys
his talent, let him be sure to employ it to the glory of God and the good of his neighbors, lest he
be found ungrateful to the Source that has blessed him with so great a talent and be in the last
found guilty of disproving it and so condemned."
From England, there is also the story of a transmutation performed before King Gustavus
Adolphus in 1620, the gold of which was coined into medals, bearing the king's effigy with the
reverse Mercury and Venus; and of another at Berlin before the King of Prussia.
In the same century, Alexander Seton, a Scot, suffered indescribable torments for his knowledge
of the art of transmutation. After practicing in his own country he went abroad, where he
demonstrated his transmutations before men of good repute and integrity in Holland, Hamburg,
Italy, Basle, Strasbourg, Cologne, and Munich. He was finally summoned to appear before the
young Elector of Saxony, to whose court he went somewhat reluctantly. The Elector, on receiving
proof of the authenticity of his projections, treated him with distinction, convinced that Seton held
the secret of boundless wealth. But Seton refused to initiate the Elector into his secret and was
imprisoned in Dresden. As his imprisonment could not shake his resolve, he was put to torture.
He was pierced, racked, beaten, scarred with fire and molten lead, but still he held his peace. At
length he was left in solitary confinement, until his escape was finally engineered by the Polish
adept Sendivogius. Even to this dear friend, he refused to reveal the secret until shortly before his
death. Two years after his escape from prison, he presented Sendivogius with his transmuting
powder.

Alchemy in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries

The first man to teach the chemistry of the human body and to declare that the true purpose of
alchemy was the preparation of medicine for the treatment of disease was one Jean Baptista Van
Helmont, a disciple of Paracelsus. Van Helmont has been called the "Descartes of Medicine" for
his probing philosophical discourses. But he was also an accomplished alchemist. In his treatise,
De Natura Vitae Eternae, he wrote: "I have seen and I have touched the Philosopher's Stone
more than once. The color of it was like saffron in powder but heavy and shining like pounded
glass. I had once given me the fourth of a grain, and I made projection with this fourth part of a
grain wrapped in paper upon eight ounces of quicksilver heated in a crucible. The result of the
projection was eight ounces, lacking just eleven grains, of the most pure gold."
In his early thirties, Van Helmont retired to an old castle in Belgium near Brussels and remained
there, almost unknown to his neighbors until his death in his sixty-seventh year. He never
professed to have actually prepared the Philosopher's Stone, but he say he gained his knowledge
from alchemists he contacted during his years of research.
Van Helmont also gives particulars of an Irish gentleman called Butler, a prisoner in the Castle of
Vilvord in Flanders, who during his captivity performed strange cures by means of Hermetic
medicine. The news of his cure of a Breton monk, a fellow-prisoner suffering from severe
erysipelas, by the administration of almond milk in which he had merely dipped the Philosopher's
Stone brought Van Helmont, accompanied by several noblemen, rushing to the castle to
investigate. In their presence Butler cured an aged woman of "megrim" by dipping the Stone into
olive oil and then anointing her head. There was also an abbess who had suffered for eighteen
years with paralyzed fingers and a swollen arm. These disabilities were removed by applying the
Stone a few times to her tongue.
In Lives of the Alchemystical Philosophers (published in 1815), it is stated that prior to the events
at Vilvord, Butler attracted some attention by his transmutations in London during the reign of
King James I. Butler is said to have gained his knowledge in Arabia in a rather roundabout way.
When a ship on which he had taken passage was captured by African pirates, he was taken
prisoner and sold into slavery in Arabia. His Arab master was an alchemist with knowledge of the
correct order of the processes. Butler assisted him in some of his operations, and when he later
escaped from captivity, he carried off a large portion of a red powder, which was the alchemical
Powder of Projection.
Dennis Zachare in his memoirs gives an interesting account of his pursuit of the Philosopher's
Stone during this period. At the age of twenty, he set out to Bordeaux to undertake a college
curriculum, and hence to Toulouse for a-course of law. In this town, he made the acquaintance of
some students in possession of a number of alchemical books. It seems that at this time there
was a craze for alchemical experiments among the students of Paris and other French towns,
and this craze caught Zachare's imagination. His law studies were forsaken and his experiments
in alchemy began. On his parents' death, having expended all his money on his new love, he
returned home and from their estate raised further money to continue his research. For ten years,
according to his own statement, after experiments of all sorts and meetings with countless men
with various methods to sell, he finally sat down himself to study carefully the writings of the
philosophers on the subject. He states that it was Raymond Lully's Testament, Codicil, and
Epistle (addressed to King Robert) that gave him the key to the secret. From the study of this
book and The Grand Rosary of Arnold de Villanova, he formulated a plan entirely different from
any he had previously followed. After another fifteen months of toil, he says "I beheld with
transport the evolution of the three successive colors that testify to the True Work. It came finally
at Eastertide. I made a projection of my divine powder on quicksilver, and in less than an hour it
was converted into fine gold. God knows how joyful I was, how I thanked Him for this great grace
and favor and prayed for His Holy Spirit to pour yet more light upon me that I might use what I
had already attained only to His praise and honor." In his only writing (titled Opusculum

Chemicum), Zachare gives his own personal narrative and states that the Great Art is the gift of
God alone. The methods and possibilities of the transmutation of metals and the Elixir as a
medicine are also considered.
There is also the evidence of John Frederick Helvetius, as he testified in 1666. He made claim to
be an adept, but admitted he received the Powder of Transmutation from another alchemist. He
wrote: "On December 27th, 1666, in the forenoon, there came a certain man to my house who
was unto me a complete stranger, but of an honest, grave and authoritative mien, clothed in a
simple garb like that of a Memnonite. He was of middle height, his face was long and slightly
pock-marked, his hair was black and straight, his chin close-shaven, his age about forty-three or
forty-four, and his native place North Holland, so far as I could make out. After we had exchanged
salutations, he inquired whether he might have some conversation with me. It was his idea to
speak of the 'Pyrotechnic Art,' since he had read one of my tracts, being that directed against the
Sympathetic Powder of Sir Kenelm Digby, in which I implied a suspicion whether the Great
Arcanum of the Sages was not after all a gigantic hoax. He took therefore this opportunity of
asking if indeed I could not believe that such a Grand Mystery might exist in the nature of things,
being that by which a physician could restore any patient whose vitals were not irreparably
destroyed. My answer allowed that such a Medicine would be a most desirable acquisition for any
doctor and that none might tell how many secrets there may be hidden in Nature, but that as for
me -- though I had read much on the truth of this Art -- it had never been my fortune to meet with
a master of alchemical science. I inquired further whether he was himself a medical man since he
spoke.so learnedly about medicine, but he disclaimed my suggestion modestly, describing
himself as a blacksmith, who had always taken great interest in the extraction of medicines from
metals by means of fire.
"After some further talk the 'craftsman Elias' -- for so he called himself -- addressed me thus:
'Seeing that you have read so much in the writings of the alchemists concerning the Stone, its
substance, color, and its wonderful effects, may I be allowed to question whether you have
yourself prepared it?'
"On my answering him in the negative, he took from his bag an ivory box of cunning workmanship
in which there were three large pieces of a substance resembling glass or pale sulfur and
informed me that here was enough of his tincture there to produce twenty tons of gold. When I
held the treasure in my hands for some fifteen minutes listening to his accounting of its curative
properties, I was compelled to return it (not without a certain degree of reluctance). After thanking
him for his kindness, I asked why it was that his tincture did not display that ruby color that I had
been taught to regard as characteristic of the Philosophers' Stone. He replied that the color made
no difference and that the substance was sufficiently mature for all practical purposes. He
brusquely refused my request for a piece of the substance, were it no larger than a coriander
seed, adding in a milder tone that he could not do so for all the wealth which I possessed; not
indeed on amount of its preciousness but for another reason that it was not lawful to divulge,
Indeed, if fire could be destroyed by fire, he would cast it rather into the flames.
"Then, after some consideration, he asked whether I could not show him into a room at the back
of the house, where we should be less liable to observation. Having led him into the parlor, he
requested me to produce a gold coin, and while I was finding it he took from his breast pocket a
green silk handkerchief wrapped about five gold medals, the metal of which was infinitely superior
to that of my own money. Being filled with admiration, I asked my visitor how he had attained this
most wonderful knowledge in the world, to which he replied that it was a gift bestowed upon him
freely by a friend who had stayed a few days at his house, and who had taught him also how to
change common flints and crystals into stones more precious than rubies and sapphires. 'He
made known to me further," said the craftsman, 'the preparation of crocus of iron, an infallible
cure for dysentery and of a metallic liquor, which was an efficacious remedy for dropsy, and of
other medicines.' To this, however, I paid no great heed as I was impatient to hear about the
Great Secret. The craftsman said further that his master caused him to bring a glass full of warm

water to which he added a little white powder and then an ounce of silver, which melted like ice
therein. 'Of this he emptied one half and gave the rest to me,' the craftsman related. 'Its taste
resembled that of fresh milk, and the effect was most exhilarating.'
"I asked my visitor whether the potion was a preparation of the Philosophers' Stone, but he
replied that I must not be so curious. He added presently that at the bidding of his master, he took
down a piece of lead water-pipe and melted it in a pot. Then the master removed some sulfurous
powder on the point of a knife from a little box, cast it into the molten lead, and after exposing the
compound for a short time to a fierce fire, he poured forth a great mass of liquid gold upon the
brick floor of the kitchen. The master told me to take one-sixteenth of this gold as a keepsake for
myself and distribute the rest among the poor (which I did by handing over a large sum in trust for
the Church of Sparrendaur). Before bidding me farewell, my friend taught me this Divine Art.'
"When my strange visitor concluded his narrative, I pleaded with him to prove his story by
performing a transmutation in my presence. He answered that he could not do so on that
occasion but that he would return in three weeks, and, if then at liberty, would do so. He returned
punctually on the promised day and invited me to take a walk, in the course of which we spoke
profoundly on the secrets of Nature he had found in fire, though I noticed that my companion was
exceedingly reserved on the subject of the Great Secret. When I prayed him to entrust me with a
morsel of his precious Stone, were it no larger than a grape seed, he handed it over like a
princely donation. When I expressed a doubt whether it would be sufficient to tinge more than
four grains of lead, he eagerly demanded it back. I complied, hoping that he would exchange it for
a larger fragment, instead of which he divided it with his thumbnail, threw half in the fire and
returned the rest, saying 'It is yet sufficient for you."
The narrative goes on to state that on the next day Helvetius prepared six drachms of lead,
melted it in a crucible, and cast in the tincture. There was a hissing sound and a slight
effervescence, and after fifteen minutes, Helvetius found that the lead had been transformed into
the finest gold, which on cooling, glittered and shone as gold indeed. A goldsmith to whom he
took this declared it to be the purest gold that he had ever seen and offered to buy it at fifty florins
per ounce. Amongst others, the Controller of the Mint came to examine the gold and asked that a
small part might be placed at his disposal for examination. Being put through the tests with aqua
fortis and antimony it was pronounced pure gold of the finest quality. Helvetius adds in a later part
of his writing that there was left in his heart by the craftsman a deeply seated conviction that
"through metals and out of metals, themselves purified by highly refined and spiritualized metals,
there may be prepared the Living Gold and Quicksilver of the Sages, which bring both metals and
human bodies to perfection."
In Helvetius' writing there is also the testimony of another person by the name of Kuffle and of his
conversion to a belief in alchemy that was the result of an experiment that he had been able to
perform himself. However, there is no indication of the source from which he obtained his powder
of projection. Secondly, there is an account of a silversmith named "Grit," who in the year 1664,
at the city of the Hague, converted a pound of lead partly into gold and partly into silver, using a
tincture he received from a man named John Caspar Knoettner. This projection was made in the
presence of many witnesses and Helvetius himself examined the precious metals obtained from
the operation.
In 1710, Sigmund Richter published his Perfect and True Preparation of the Philosophical Stone
under the auspices of the Rosicrucians. Another representative of the Rosy Cross was the
mysterious Lascaris, a descendant of the royal house of Lascaris, an old Byzantine family who
spread the knowledge of the Hermetic art in Germany during the eighteenth century. Lascaris
affirmed that when unbelievers beheld the amazing virtues of the Stone, they would no longer be
able to regard alchemy as a delusive art. He appears to have performed transmutations in
different parts of Germany but then disappeared and was never heard from again.

Our Debt to the Alchemists (by Reginald Merton)

If there were any of the alchemists who discovered the mineral agent of transformation, fewer still
were able to find its application to the human body. Only a very few adepts knew of the essential
agent, the sublime heat of the soul, which fuses the emotions, consumes the prison of leaden
form and allows entry into the higher world. Raymond Lully made gold for the King of England.
George Ripley gave a hundred thousand pounds of alchemical gold to the Knights of Rhodes,
when they were attacked by the Turks. Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden had an enormous number
of gold pieces coined that were marked with a special mark because they were of "Hermetic
origin." They had been made by an unknown man under the protection of the king, who was
found at his death to possess a considerable quantity of gold. In 1580, the Elector Augustus of
Saxony, who was an alchemist, left a fortune equivalent to seventeen million dollars. The source
of the fortune of Pope John XXII, whose residence was Avignon and whose revenues were small,
must be ascribed to alchemy (at his death there were in his treasury twenty-five million florins).
This must be concluded also in the case of the eighty-four quintals of gold possessed in 1680 by
Rudolph II of Germany.
The learned chemist Van Helmont and the doctor Helvetius, who were both skeptics with regard
to the Philosopher's Stone and had even published books against it, were converted as a result of
an identical adventure which befell them. An unknown man visited them and gave them a small
quantity of projection powder; he asked them not to perform the transmutation until after his
departure and then only with apparatus prepared by themselves, in order to avoid all possibility of
fraud. The grain of powder given to Van Helmont was so minute that he smiled sarcastically; the
unknown man smiled also and took back half of it, saying that what was left was enough to make
a large quantity of gold. Both Van Helmont's and Helvetius' experiments were successful, and
both men became acknowledged believers in alchemy. Van Helmont became the greatest
"chemist" of his day. If we do not hear nowadays that Madame Curie has had a mysterious visitor
who gave her a little powder " the color of the wild poppy and smelling of calcined sea salt," the
reason may be that the secret is indeed lost; or, possibly, now that alchemists are no longer
persecuted or burnt, it may be that they no longer need the favorable judgment of those in official
power.
Until the end of the eighteenth century, it was customary to hang alchemists dressed in a
grotesque gold robe on gilded gallows. If they escaped this punishment they were usually
imprisoned by barons or kings, who either compelled them to make gold or extorted their secret
from them in exchange for their liberty. Often they were left to starve in prison. Sometimes they
were roasted by inches or had their limbs slowly broken. For when gold is the prize, religion and
morality are thrown to the side and human laws set at naught. This is what happened to
Alexander Sethon, called "the Cosmopolitan." He had had the wisdom to hide all his life and
avoid the company of the powerful and was a truly wise man. However, marriage was his
downfall. In order to please his ambitious wife, who was young and beautiful, he yielded to the
invitation extended him by the Elector of Saxony, Christian II, to come to his court. Since Sethon
was unwilling to disclose the secret of the Philosopher's Stone, which he had long possessed, he
was scalded every day with molten lead, beaten with rods and punctured with needles till he died.
The famous alchemists Michael Sendivogius, Botticher, and Paykull all spent part of their lives in
prison, and many men suffered death for no other crime than the study of alchemy. If a great
number of these seekers were impelled by ambition or if there were among them charlatans and
impostors, it does not diminish the fact that a great many of them cherished a genuine ideal of
moral development. In any event, their work in the domain of physics and chemistry formed a
solid basis for the few wretched fragmentary scraps of knowledge that are called modern science
and are cause for great pride to a large number of ignorant men.
These "scientists" regard the alchemists as dreamers and fools, though every discovery of their
infallible science is to be found in the "dreams and follies" of the alchemists. It is no longer a

paradox, but a truth attested by recognized scientists themselves, that the few fragments of truth
that our modern culture possesses are due to the pretended or genuine adepts who were hanged
with a gilt dunce's cap on their heads. What is important is that not all of them saw in the
Philosopher's Stone the mere vulgar, useless aim of making gold. A small number of them
received, either through a master or through the silence of daily meditation, genuine higher truth.
These were the men who, by having observed it in themselves, understood the symbolism of one
of the most essential rules of alchemy: Use only one vessel, one fire, and one instrument. They
knew the characteristics of the sole agent, of the Secret Fire, of the serpentine power which
moves upwards in spirals -- of the great primitive force hidden in all matter, organic and inorganic
-- which the Hindus call kundalini, a force that creates and destroys simultaneously. The
alchemists calculated that the capacity for creation and the capacity for destruction were equal,
that the possessor of the secret had power for evil as great as his power for good. And just as
nobody trusts a child with a high explosive, so they kept the divine science to themselves, or, if
they left a written account of the facts they had found, they always omitted the essential point, so
that it could be understood only by someone who already knew.
Examples of such men were, in the seventeenth century, Thomas Vaughan (called Philalethes),
and, in the eighteenth century, Lascaris. It is possible to form some idea of the lofty thought of
Philalethes from his book Infroitus, but Lascaris has left us nothing. Little is known of their lives.
Both of them wandered throughout Europe teaching those whom they considered worthy of being
taught. They both made gold often but only for special reasons. They did not seek glory, but
actually shunned it. They had knowledge enough to foresee persecution and avoid it. They had
neither a permanent abode nor family. It is not even known when and where they died. It is
probable that they attained the most highly developed state possible to man, that they
accomplished the transmutation of their soul. In others words, while still living they were members
of the spiritual world. They had regenerated their being, performed the task of mankind. They
were twice born. They devoted themselves to helping their fellow men; this they did in the most
useful way, which does not consist in healing the ills of the body or in improving men's physical
state. They used a higher method, which in the first instance can be applied only to a small
number, but eventually affects all of us. They helped the noblest minds to reach the goal that they
had reached themselves. They sought such men in the towns through which they passed, and,
generally, during their travels. They had no school and no regular teaching, because their
teaching was on the border of the human and the divine. But they knew that a truthful word, a
seed of gold sown at a certain time in a certain soul would bring results a thousand times greater
than those that could accrue from the knowledge gained through books or ordinary science.
From the bottom of our hearts we ought to thank the modest men who held in their hands the
magical Emerald Formula that makes a man master of the world, a formula which they took as
much trouble to hide as they had taken to discover it. For however dazzling and bright the
obverse of the alchemical medallion, its reverse is dark as night. The way of good is the same as
the way of evil, and when a man has crossed the threshold of knowledge, he has more
intelligence but no more capacity for love. For with knowledge comes pride, and egoism is
created by the desire to uphold the development of qualities that he considers necessary.
Through egoism he returns to the evil that he has tried to escape. Nature is full of traps, and the
higher a man rises in the hierarchy of men, the more numerous and the better hidden are the
traps.
Saint Anthony in his desert was surrounded by nothing but dreams. He stretched out his arms to
grasp them, and if he did not succumb to temptation it was only because the phantoms vanished
when he sought to seize them. But the living, almost immediately tangible reality of gold, which
gives everything -- what superhuman strength would be necessary to resist it! That is what had to
be weighed by the alchemical adepts who possessed the Triple Hermetic Truth. They had to
remember those of their number who had failed and fallen to the wayside. And they had to
ponder how apparently illogical and sad for mankind is the law by which the Tree of Wisdom is

guarded by a serpent infinitely more powerful than the trickster serpent that tempted Eve in the
Garden of Eden.

A Hyper-History of the Emerald

Tablet
The Emerald Tablet
The Emerald Tablet is one of the most revered documents in the Western World,
and its Egyptian author, Hermes Trismegistus, has become synonymous with
ancient wisdom. His tablet contains an extremely succinct summary of what
Aldous Huxley dubbed the "Perennial Philosophy," a timeless science of soul that
keeps popping up despite centuries of effort to suppress it. The basic idea is that
there exists a divine or archetypal level of mind that determines physical reality,
and individuals can access that realm through direct knowledge of God.
The teachings of Hermes -- the Hermetic tradition -- is one of the oldest spiritual
traditions in the world, and while no direct evidence links the Emerald Tablet to
Eastern religions, it shares uncanny similarities in concepts and terminology with
Taoism, Hinduism, and Buddhism. In the West, the tablet found a home not only
in the pagan tradition but also in all three of the orthodox Abrahamic religions
(Judaism, Christianity, and Islam), and many of the most heretical beliefs of the
Gnostics are also openly expressed in it. Like the authors of the tablet, the
Gnostics believed that direct knowledge of reality could be attained through
psychological discipline and meditative exercises. They also shared a common
view of the universe in which "All Is One," a pattern of creation and decay
symbolized by the Ouroboros (the snake eating its own tail).
Without doubt, the Emerald Tablet was the inspiration behind many other
esoteric traditions, including over 1,700 years of alchemy. Most medieval
alchemists hung a copy of the tablet on their laboratory wall and constantly
referred to the "secret formula" it contained. In fact, during the sixteenth century,
Hermes Trismegistus was such a revered figure that there was a movement to
have his teachings replace those of Aristotle in European schools.
Five hundred years later, the tablet's words are still held in the highest regard.
"The Emerald Tablet is the cryptic epitome of the alchemical opus," noted
Jungian analyst Dr. Edward Edinger, "a recipe for the second creation of the
world." Ethnobotanist and consciousness guru Terence McKenna agrees, calling
the tablet "a formula for a holographic matrix" that is mirrored in the human mind
and offers mankind its only hope for future survival. "Whatever one chooses to
believe about it," sums up John Matthews in The Western Way (Penguin 1997),
"there is no getting away from the fact that the Emerald Tablet is one of the most
profound and important documents to have come down to us. It has been said

more than once that it contains the sum of all knowledge -- for those able to
understand it."
However, there is one nagging problem with the Emerald Tablet: Nobody seems
to know for sure where it came from, or who really wrote it.

Timeless Myths and Church Politics

Part of the problem trying to figure out the origins of the Emerald Tablet comes
from the many legends that cloud its history. In one of the earliest of these fabled
scenarios, Hermes was a son of Adam and wrote the tablet to show mankind
how to redeem itself from his father's sins in the Garden of Eden. Jewish mystics
identify the tablet's author with Seth, who was the second son of Adam. They
credit him with writing the Emerald Tablet, which was taken aboard the ark by
Noah. After the Flood, Noah supposedly hid the tablet in a cave near Hebron,
where it was later discovered by Sarah, wife of Abraham. Another version
describes Hermes giving the tablet to Miriam, daughter of Moses, for
safekeeping. She allegedly put it in the Ark of the Covenant, where it remains to
this day. Occult historians generally agree that the tablet was found in a secret
chamber under the pyramid of Cheops around 1350 BC. Another interesting
legend describes Hermes as a philosopher traveling in Ceylon in the fifth century
BC. He found the Emerald Tablet hidden in a cave, and after studying it, learned
how to "travel in both heaven and earth." This Hermes spent the rest of his life
wandering throughout Asia and the Middle East teaching and healing. Oddly, the
Hindu sacred book Mahanirvanatantra states that Hermes was the same person
as Buddha, and each is referred to as the "Son of the Moon" in other Hindu
religious texts.
Probably the only constant in all these legends is what the Emerald Tablet looked
like. It is always described as a rectangular green plaque with bas-relief lettering
in a strange alphabet similar to ancient Phoenician. It is made of emerald or
green crystal, and the workmanship is exquisite. Caves, corpses, ancient Egypt,
and secret wisdom are common themes in many of the stories.
The history of the tablet was further complicated when its alleged author became
associated with the Corpus Hermeticum in the Middle Ages. The seventeen
treatises of the Corpus expand on the principles of the Emerald Tablet and
appear to be records of intimate conversations between Hermes and his
disciples. For over three centuries, they were thought by the Catholic Church to
be very ancient and held in the highest esteem. The church fathers believed the
Corpus Hermeticum lent support to Christian doctrines, and the documents were
required reading for European scholars. Images of Hermes adorned cathedrals
all over Europe, and to this day, a giant fresco dominates the Borgia Apartments
of the Vatican that shows Hermes, adorned with Hermetic symbols, walking in
the company of Moses.

So it caused a great scandal in 1614 when Protestant scholar Isaac Causabon

declared these documents forgeries written by "semi-Christians" sometime
between 200 and 300 AD. He based his conclusion on a linguistic analysis that
dated the writings to that era. For the next two hundred years, the Hermetic
literature, which had been embraced by the early followers of Christ, was
condemned by Christians everywhere. Although it was not officially part of the
Corpus Hermeticum, the Emerald Tablet suffered the fate of all writings attributed
to Hermes and went underground in a variety of secret organizations such as the
Rosicrucians and Freemasonry.
The reverence with which these diverse groups continued to hold the Emerald
Tablet is exemplified in the following paragraph from the Morals and Dogma of
Freemasonry: "He who desires to attain the understanding of the Grand Word
and the possession of the Great Secret, ought carefully to read the Hermetic
philosophers, and will undoubtedly attain initiation, as others have done; but he
must take, for the key of their allegories, the single dogma of Hermes, contained
in his Table of Emerald." There are other more veiled references to the Hermetic
tradition in Freemasonry. For instance, their sacred name "Hiram Ibif" refers to
the first Hermes (Hermes Ibis or Thoth), who, according to Masonic tradition,
arrived "in the year of the world 2670."
Today, most scholars agree that the Emerald Tablet is separate from or predates
the Corpus Hermeticum and was probably the inspiration for them, and in this
sense, the Corpus really does contain ancient writings. "In the mystic sense,"
summarized the nineteenth-century French scholar Artaud, "Thoth or the
Egyptian Hermes was the symbol of the Divine Mind; he was incarnated
Thought, the Living Word -- the Logos of Plato and the Word of the Christians.
So the Corpus Hermeticum really does contain the ancient Egyptian doctrine of
which traces can be discovered from the hieroglyphics which still cover the
monuments of Egypt."

Thrice Greatest Hermes

However, the question still remains: Who really wrote the Emerald Tablet and
when? New evidence started to turn up in the late nineteenth century, when new
discoveries about Egypt and the deciphering of hieroglyphics suggested that the
principles exposed in the tablet go back at least 5,000 years. Some scholars
suggested the date of origin for the Emerald Tablet to be around 3000 BC, when
the Phoenicians settled on the Syrian coast. Phrases from the tablet, including
references to the One Mind, the One Thing, and the correspondences between
the Above and the Below, were discovered in many Egyptian papyrii, such as
Papyrus of Ani and the Book of the Dead (1500 BC), the Berlin Papyrus (2000
BC), and other scrolls dating between 1000 and 300 BC. One early Hellenistic
papyrus known as An Invocation to Hermes might refer directly to the Emerald
Tablet and its author: "I know your names in the Egyptian tongue," it reads, "and

your true name as it is written on the Holy Tablet in the holy place at Hermopolis,
where you did have your birth."
That "true name" is the same name that all the Egyptian records point to as the
author of the tablet: Hermes. But this person appears to have a threefold identity,
which is why in the Latin translations of the tablet, he is called "Hermes
Trismegistus" or "Hermes the Thrice Greatest." If we follow the strict genealogical
order in the Egyptian texts, Hermes is the son of the Agathodaimon, the great
Thoth, who is the Egyptian god of all learning and hidden knowledge. According
to those same texts, Hermes himself had a son, Tat, who was a scribe and lived
in Alexandria around 250 BC. As mundane as all this sounds, there is something
very disconcerting about the triple progression here. It descends from god to
god/man to common man.
The Egyptians were the world's most accomplished esoteric symbolists, and it is
possible that this triple descendancy is a clue to understanding the true nature of
Hermes. Yet to unravel this clue, it is necessary to forsake the traditional
archaeological approach. In the words of the tablet itself, we need to "separate
the Earth from Fire, the subtle from the gross." Is it really possible to trace the
origins of Emerald Tablet by moving to a higher level and following its spirit back
through time? Could there be a grain of truth in the old legends that historians
have ignored? In creating such a hyper-history, it is necessary to look at the
psychology, philosophy, and beliefs of those associated with the tablet and the
societies in which they lived.

Thoth: the First Hermes

There are tantalizing bits of evidence that suggest mysterious visitors came to
Egypt over 12,000 years ago and brought with them a powerful spiritual
technology, which they passed down to future generations in a time capsule of
wisdom that became known as the Emerald Tablet. The Book of What Is In the
Daat, the Book of the Dead and other Egyptian funerary texts, and numerous
rebirth texts refer to a remote epoch known as the "Zep Tepi," a time before the
Great Flood when the godlike beings came to earth and established their
kingdom in Egypt. They included Thoth, the "god" of science and mathematics,
who is said to have written the Emerald Tablet and hid it in a pillar at Hermopolis
to preserve it through the coming world deluge.
Thoth, who most sources agree was the "first Hermes," is impossible to
categorize intellectually because he transcends anything we normally think about
gods and men. Usually depicted as a man with the head of an ibis (a wading bird
with a long curved beak), this Egyptian neter (archetypal power) seems a simple
personification of the powers of mind. He was said to be responsible for teaching
men how to interpret things, arrange their speech in logical patterns, and write
down their thoughts. As the inventor of hieroglyphics, Thoth instituted record
keeping and founded the sciences of mathematics, astronomy, and medicine.

However, there are subtle clues in the many alternative names for this God of
Thought that suggest he really represents the ultimate archetype of the Word of
God (the One Mind) creating the universe.
Thoth is called the "Source of the Word," the one god without parents who
precedes all others. He is the "Soul of Becoming" whose creative willpower
fashions reality. "What emanates from the opening of his mouth," says an ancient
Egyptian text, "that comes to pass; he speaks and it is his command." As the
"Reckoner of the Universe," Thoth is the source of all natural law; as the
"Shepherd of Men" and "Vehicle of Knowledge," he is the higher mind in man that
provides inspiration and inner knowledge. According to the Ebers Papyrus, a 68foot-long scroll on alchemy that is the oldest book in the world: "Mans guide is
Thoth, who bestows on him the gifts of his speech, who makes the books, and
illumines those who are learned therein, and the physicians who follow him, that
they may work cures." As the "Revealer of the Hidden" and "Lord of Rebirth,"
Thoth is the guide to alternate states of consciousness and initiator of human
enlightenment. One of Thoths scrolls, The Book of Breathings, supposedly
taught humans how to become gods through breath control.
Paradoxically, Thoth embodies the rational powers of the Sun as well as the
intuitive, irrational energies of the Moon. The ibis is the Egyptian symbol for the
heart, and, as "Recorder and Balancer," Thoth presides over the Weighing of the
Heart ceremony, which determines who is admitted into heaven. Thoth is the
final judge, who weighs individuals "true words," the innermost intent in all of our
thoughts and actions.
Just before the Great Flood, Thoth preserved the ancient wisdom by inscribing
two great pillars and hiding sacred objects and scrolls inside them. Egyptian holy
books refer to these sacred pillars, one located in Heliopolis and the other in
Thebes, as the "Pillars of the Gods of the Dawning Light." They were moved to a
third temple where they later became known as the two "Pillars of Hermes."
These splendorous columns are mentioned by numerous credible sources down
through history. The Greek legislator, Solon, saw them and noted that they
memorialized the destruction of Atlantis. The pillars were what the historian
Herodotus described in the temple of an unidentified Egyptian god he visited.
"One pillar was of pure gold," he wrote, "and the other was as of emerald, which
glowed at night with great brilliancy." In Iamblichus: On the Mysteries, Thomas
Taylor quotes an ancient author who says the Pillars of Hermes dated to before
the Great Flood and were found in caverns not far from Thebes. The mysterious
pillars are also described by Achilles Tatius, Dio Chrysostom, Laertius, and other
Roman and Greek historians.
In summarizing all the ancient wisdom and preserving it, Thoth the first scribe
can be considered the true author of the Emerald Tablet. As a god, Thoth is the
archetypal Hermes, the Hermes above, the first of three incarnations of Hermes
Trismegistus.

Akhenaten: the Second Hermes

The "second Hermes" arrives on the scene sometime after the Great Flood.
According to the Ebers Papyrus, such a person actually lived during the
Amenhotep dynasty, and there is only one person who seems to have
promulgated the spirit of the Emerald Tablet during those centuries. It was
Amenhotep IV, who ruled from 1364 to 1347 BC. Shortly after he took the throne,
he suddenly changed his name from Amenhotep (meaning "Amen is Satisfied")
to Akhenaten ("He Who Serves the Aten"). His name change signaled his break
with the powerful priests of Amen to set up a new monotheistic religion that
recognized the sun as the One Thing, the source of all creative energy. The new
Egyptian supreme god, called the Aten or simply "the Disk," was never
personified like previous gods but was thought of as an abstract energy. Pictures
of the Aten show the Disk with rays coming down from heaven and terminating
on earth in hundreds of tiny hands.
"The Aten is Radiant Energy personified," wrote one twentieth-century
Egyptologist, "that is to say, an all-pervading reality of an immanent character.
Akhenaten deliberately brushed aside the distinction between the god, maker of
the solar Disk, and the solar Disk itself, the distinction between creative energy
and created matter. The Disk was, like all matter that falls under our senses, but
a visible manifestation of something more subtle, intangible, everlasting -- its
essence. And the heat and light, the energy of the sun, was the manifestation of
that One Thing of which the visible flaming Disk was yet another manifestation."
Some occult authors have dubbed Akhenaten the "Extraterrestrial King," and
there is no doubt he possessed alien features. He had a thin face and a massive
elongated bald head supported by a spindly neck, and his drooping shoulders,
pear-shaped torso, lack of musculature, and scrawny legs certainly made him
look like a space traveler. Akhenaten was also very androgynous in appearance,
and respected scholars have accused him of being a homosexual or a woman
masquerading as a man. Statues of Akhenaten have survived that show him
naked with the breast of a woman and no male genitalia. It is known that this
freakish pharaoh claimed one of the most beautiful women in the world as his
bride, the lovely Nefertiti (whose family origins are still unknown to
Egyptologists), and also shared the throne with a handsome young man by the
name of Smenkhkare. Both of Akhenatens co-rulers shared the title "Beauty of
All Beauties."
Although traditional history makes no mention of it, our hyper-history suggests
that Akhenaten rediscovered the Emerald Tablet at the beginning of his rule as
pharaoh. According to at least one ancient papyrus, without the writings of Thoth
the larger pyramids could not be built, so a great search throughout Egypt was
conducted until they were found. Whether or not he found the tablet, Akhenaten
stands as a candidate for the second Hermes because he tried to apply the
tablets principles and spread its spirit throughout his reign. Known as the heretic

pharaoh, he espoused the revolutionary concept of "living in truth" and acting in

natural accord with cosmic principles that the tablet called the "Operation of the
Sun." He referred to this universal ideal as Maat, which meant the "real thing" or
absolute truth, the original will of the One Mind. The agent of Maat was the One
Thing, of which the physical sun, or the solar Disk, was the physical expression.
Akhenaten's Hymn to the Aten is considered one of the best pieces of Egyptian
lyric poetry ever discovered, and several scholars have noted its similarity in
spirit to Emerald Tablet. A few lines reveal Akhenaten's passionate belief in the
One Mind: "How manifold it is, what You have made yet hidden from the face of
man. Oh One God, like whom there is no other, You created the world according
to your desire, while You were alone: all men, cattle, and wild beasts, whatever is
on earth, going on its feet, and what is on high, flying with its wings."
The principle of "living in truth" permeated every level of Egyptian society under
Akhenaten. Most noticeable was the sudden change in the stiff and lifeless style
that dominated Egyptian art. For the first time, Egyptian reliefs and paintings
portrayed natural subjects such as plants and animals in exacting detail, and
traditional scenes of sterile Egyptian society were replaced by such ungodly
behavior as Akhenaten kissing his wife or bouncing his daughters on his knee. In
another striking break with tradition, Akhenaten ordered the abandonment of the
old capitol of Thebes and built a new capitol city, Akhetaten ("Horizon of the
Aten"), on a desolate stretch of land along the east bank of the Nile near the
modern Egyptian city of Asyut. Scandalously, villas in the 60,000-population city
were constructed without separate quarters for men and women, and women in
particular were treated with more respect there.
Yet for the disenfranchised patriarchal priests, Akhenaten might as well have
been from another planet. After just seventeen years of rule, Akhenaten and
Nefertiti disappeared under mysterious circumstances, and it seems likely that
the former priests of Amen did away with them. Akhenaten was well aware of the
brewing unrest among the priests but never hesitated spreading the precepts
contained in the tablet. By some indications, one of those that took his ideas to
heart was a man of god by the name of Moses. According to Exodus, Moses had
fled to the land of the Kenites, which is what the subjects of Akhenaten were
called. In the open court of the time, it can be assumed that Moses would have
conferred with the pharaoh many times on behalf of his people. In Moses and
Monotheism (1939), Sigmund Freud was the first to suggest that Moses
appropriated the pharaohs idea of one supreme god and brought the new
religion to the Jews. Perhaps all the legends linking Moses and tablet are not so
far off.
In any case, the heretic pharaoh was eventually replaced by a ten-year-old boy.
His given name, Tutankaten ("Servant of the Aten"), was changed to
Tutankamen ("Servant of Amen") after Akhenatens murder. The child pharaoh
was tightly controlled by fundamentalist priests, who restored the capitol to

Thebes, destroyed the city of Akhetaten, and erased all traces of monotheism
from Egypt. Unlike the magnificent golden mummy of King Tut, the bodies of
Akhenaten and Nefertiti were never found. Archeologist Sir Alan Gardner
surmised that Akhenatens body had been "torn to pieces and thrown to the
dogs." The only written references to the Aten after the Akhenaten's death were
enigmatic allusions that associated the Disk with the great Sphinx on the Giza
Plain.

Apollonius: The Third Hermes

Our hyper-history continues with the life of another Egyptian pharaoh, a Greek
who became pharaoh when he conquered Egypt in 332 BC -- Alexander the
Great. As pharaoh, he gained access to all the treasures of Egypt, including the
whereabouts of Hermes (Akhenaten's?) tomb. Convinced it was his destiny to
reveal the ancient secrets, Alexander immediately headed across the Libyan
desert to an ancient temple at Siwa near where the tomb was located. According
to Albertus Magnus and others, that is where Alexander found the Emerald
Tablet.
Alexander took the tablet and scrolls he found in the tomb to Heliopolis, where he
placed the scrolls in the sacred archives and put the Emerald Tablet on public
display. Construction of the city of Alexandria to house and study the Hermetic
texts was begun immediately, and he assembled a panel of priests and scholars
to prepare Greek translations. According to esoteric historian Manly P. Hall, the
mysterious Emerald Tablet caused quite a stir. One traveler, who had seen it on
display at Heliopolis, wrote: "It is a precious stone, like an emerald, whereon
these characters are represented in bas-relief, not engraved. It is esteemed
above 2,000 years old. The matter of this emerald had once been in a fluid state
like melted glass, and had been cast in a mold, and to this flux the artist had
given the hardness of the natural and genuine emerald, by his art."
When Alexander left Egypt, it has been suggested that he took the original tablet
with him and hid it for safekeeping before going on to conquer Babylonia and
India. Meanwhile, copies of the tablet became primary documents at Alexandria,
and according to some reports, scholars issued revised Greek translations in 290
BC, 270 BC, and 50 BC. Several papyrii in the British Museum mention a canon
of Egyptian teachings that included the writings of Hermes that was still in
existence at the time of Clement of Alexandria (around 170 CE). Fortunately,
before Alexandria's libraries were destroyed in successive burnings by the
Romans, Christians, and Muslims, copies of the Emerald Tablet had made their
way into Arabia and from there eventually reached Spain and Europe.
After Alexander died from a fever on his return from India, his body was interred
in a tomb somewhere in the Egyptian desert, although to this day, no one knows
where. Yet someone did discover the hiding place of the Emerald Tablet. It is
said that a brilliant Syrian youth named Balinas found it hidden in a large cavern

just outside his hometown of Tyana in Cappadocia. It was Balinas who absorbed
the tablets teachings and once again brought them to light in the Western world.
The youth became known as Apollonius of Tyana (after Apollo, Greek god of
enlightenment and brother of Hermes). Respected for his great wisdom and
magical powers, Apollonius traveled throughout the world and eventually settled
in Alexandria.
Unfortunately, Apollonius was a contemporary of Christ, and early Christians felt
he was much too like their own Son of God. By 400 AD, every one of the scores
of books Apollonius wrote in Alexandria and all of the dozens of temples
dedicated to him were destroyed by Christian zealots. But Apollonius still stands
as the third Hermes in our hyper-history, because he did more than any other
person in the modern era to assure that the Emerald Tablet and its principles
survived.
The earliest surviving translation of the Emerald Tablet is in an Arabic book
known as the Book of Balinas the Wise on Causes, written around 650 AD and
based on Apollonius Alexandrian writings. It also appears in the eighth century
Kitab Sirr al Asar, an Arabian book of advice to kings. Another Arabic text, written
by alchemist Jabir Hayyan around 800 AD, contains a copy of the Emerald
Tablet and also gives Apollonius as the source. In all these texts, Apollonius
describes finding the Emerald Tablet in the underground cavern in Tyana. He
never claims credit for it, though he spent the rest of his life writing about it and
demonstrating its principles to anyone who would listen.
What have we learned from our attempt at hyper-history? Can we even tell if the
author of the Emerald Tablet was a man or a god? The answer down through the
ages has always been both, and whether portrayed as man or god, Hermes is
always the revealer of ultimate knowledge hidden to mankind. He is like a spirit
who reincarnates through time to guide us in our struggle toward enlightenment.
It is a tradition that goes all the way back to the first Hermes, the god Thoth, who
was said to inspire people with direct perception of truth. "May Thoth write to you
daily," utters the 3,500-year-old Papyrus of Ani.

Emerald Insights to Live By

How does one become an alchemist in modern times? One way is to make
the Emerald Formula live in us and distill it even further to make of it
practical insights that we can use to rise above the trials and tribulations of
everyday life. By working with the Emerald Formula on a daily basis, its
precepts penetrate even deeper into the fiber of our lives and often work
their wonders without us even being aware of it. The following seven
principles capture the essence of each of the Seven Steps, but in deference
to the profundity of the Hermetic Mysteries, we will label them neither

"commandments" nor "insights" but "Arcana" -- the great secret

ingredients of our lives that come together to make the Stone.

Arcanum One: Whatever remains always Below becomes its own

worst enemy.
In our ignorance, we are constantly messing up the alchemy of our lives
and that of the planet. The opportunistic growth of ego, whether in a person
or in a nation, gradually takes over the whole organism and becomes its
Tyrant King, who keeps power through disinformation and subterfuge. Ego,
on whatever level it manifests, saps us of energy and positions us opposite
the divine. By living under ego and not our essence, we are no longer living
in truth and bring about our own demise. We loose innocence; our plans
and goals become mockeries.
Calcination, the hellfire reserved for those who go against the
emanations of the One Mind, who live outside the Operation of the Sun, can
take place on a personal, marital, social, national, or planetary level.
Nothing will ever go right, unless we are connected to the One source of all
creation and purged of our enslavement to ego. The Rightful Ruler, the
sacred Presence within each one of us, must overthrow this despot King.
We must acknowledge the Presence beyond ego, for when it is coagulated
and ruling our world, we, too, are divine; but when things are not going our
way, we are experiencing the justice of Thoth himself. Jesus knew exactly
what it meant to remain Below, and he expressed it in the Gnostic Gospel
of Thomas: "If you bring forth what is within you, what you bring forth can
save you. If you do not bring forth what is within you, what you do not
bring forth will destroy you."
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Arcanum Two: The way to truth is through Intelligence of the

Heart.
Arriving at a solution to any problem requires psychological Dissolution,
the suspension of previous assumptions and the discovery of new
perspectives. However, one of the most basic and hardest assumptions to
give up is the assumption that all problems can be solved rationally. Any
scientist or mathematician will tell you that reality is made up of both
rational and irrational components. The only totally rational world exists
inside computers, where reality is artificial and limited to preprogrammed
parameters. As sentient beings, our only advantage is to live on the edge

between "yes and no," in the chaotic zone where only our living intuition
knows the way.
So, finding truth requires using our minds and following our hearts,
which is why the alchemists sought to develop a feeling intellect. That is
what they meant when they warned that the alchemist could transmute
nothing until he had transmuted himself. At that point, the alchemist opens
himself fully to feeling and experience. In fact, in many drawings,
alchemists are shown burning or tearing up books to demonstrate that
alchemy is not static knowledge or dogma but a living, experiential gnosis.
During meditative work in our own inner laboratories, we too can actually
feel the Emerald Formula working within us and living in our heart of
hearts. From the perspective of the Emerald Tablet, the only unforgivable
sin is smugness, which is the unwillingness to be alive and open to new
experience.
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Arcanum Three: Every created thing carries the signature of its

creator.
Nature is a book from which the wisdom of the divine can be read. By
recognizing the divine signature of a thing, you can understand the
connection between the Above and the Below through which it was
manifested. Each thing has its own signature, the archetypal essence that
can be identified by its similar expressions. By contemplating the
relationship between the objects in our lives and the forces that created
them, we can arrive at the "thing itself" and know its inherent identity. Only
in this way can we understand what these objects or forces mean to us and
whether they represent threats or assistance. This application of the
Doctrine of Correspondences is fundamental, and by ignoring the
congruencies between the Above and the Below we are holding back the
wisdom of the universe. As alchemists, we must undergo a process of
constant Separation in which we work only with the archetypal essences of
people, things, and events.
The alchemists became very familiar with the signatures of metals, and
we have seen how the physical properties of metals became associated
with an individuals temperament. The alchemists saw that the metals
carried the signatures of the planets, just as we carry the signatures of the
metals. The same principle was adapted in Paracelsian medicine, in which
the signatures of plants determine how they can be used to cure people.
Apollonius of Tyana believed that the esoteric signatures of gemstones

could also be used to heal. Such alchemical therapies work on both a

subtle and a gross level at once, by working with the hidden signatures of
things. Words and images have signatures too, and even religions have
their own signature based on how they came into being. By the same
token, the God whom people worship places his signature on their minds.
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Arcanum Four: Continued enlightenment comes from living within

the Operation of the Sun.
True enlightenment cannot come from earthbound philosophies. We
must find a source higher than ourselves, and for the Egyptians and
Hermeticists of all ages, that source was symbolized by the Sun. This is not
primitive sun worship but a genuine regard for the higher alchemy of the
universe expressed in the Operation of the Sun. It is a state of
consciousness less cut off from the source of life and more in tune with the
internal dimensions of the cosmos that are reflected within us.
Whether it is seen simply as the governor of dark and light, the revealer
of Cosmic Ages, or the Mind of God, the Operation of the Sun
demonstrates the Ouroboros -- the Fountain of Fountains -- the seemingly
endless creation of light and energy feeding off the One Thing within itself.
Each one of us can live the same way, if we tap into the inexhaustible
reserves of our nuclear Self. To do that, of course, requires peeling away
all the leaden layers of falseness that have grown over it in the course of
our lives and withdrawing the carbon rods of control placed there by ego.
This ouroboric reaction within us is an amazing and unbelievably powerful
source of pure energy that can heal our faults and sustain high levels of
health and enthusiasm, inspiration and bliss in our lives.
If you follow the Operation of the Sun, which is alchemy, something
amazing will begin to unfold in your life. When you with a force instead of
opposing it, you gain power, and you finally know what you have to do in
your life. You experience a Conjunction in which the powers both Above
and Below work together on all levels of your being. Truly astonishing
synchronicities will occur at the intersection of your mind and the One
Mind. It is as if your interest in alchemy will cause alchemy to become
interested in you.
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Arcanum Five: The gateway to the Above is through the True

Imagination.
The True Imagination exists on the fine line between real and unreal,
manifested and unmanifested. Where do you draw the line at what is real?
Your fantasies? Your dreams? Your thoughts? Psychology -- is that real?
Should we accept the view of quantum physicists that matter itself is an
illusion? According to the alchemists, everything is real. Everything we
perceive is all part of the same One Thing, and we are as connected to it as
we want to be.
As the Gateway to the Above, the True Imagination is connected to the
physical reality of the One Thing through the archetypes and to the realm
of the One Mind through the light of consciousness. When these forces of
Above and Below come together, anything can happen. Many people have
experienced this power at the borderline between sleeping and waking, or
between death and life. One ten-year-old boy, who had a near-death
experience, described it as "walking inside your mind." At such times, we
realize that the universe is alive with Mind, and Mind is a real place, even
though the light that dawns there is the imagination.
Using the power of True Imagination, we enter the Greater Mysteries that
begin with our Fermentation, in which we experience an influx of
meaningful insight and higher inspiration. This altered state of
consciousness reveals the true alchemy of a person's life. Some will
ascend and others descend during this experience in accordance with their
personal alchemy. What is amazing is that both the ascent and the descent
lead to the same place. That is the meaning of the Ouroboros.
What is the True Imagination? To the alchemists, it was the fusion of
Mercury with Sulfur, the passionate union of imagination and will beyond
all egocentric fantasy. This combination affects the very fabric of
existence, creating a gravity of likely events that brings image to fruition.
Using the True Imagination, we create a sacred space, a Hermes Field, that
affects reality on all levels.
Within that sacred space exists the First Matter, the primordial substance
that becomes the Stone. It is with the True Imagination that we first
perceive the First Matter, and our Fermentation is when we realize that the
First Matter is indeed the key to the Work. We learn to look for it
everywhere and stay connected to it always. Yet the First Matter exists only
in the present moment -- it has no past and no future. It is the eternal soul
hidden in all created things.
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Arcanum Six: Your feelings and thoughts are the feelings and
thoughts of the Whole Universe.
For the ancients, who lived in accord with the principles of the Operation
of the Sun, thoughts and words had tremendous power. To know
somethings name was to have complete control over it, because it
provided a focus for the use of directed thought. Following the Doctrine of
Correspondences, they believed that just as the Thoughts of the One Mind
(what we would call the Word of God) created the universe, so can the
thoughts and words of man change his reality Below. As we approach the
millennium, more and more people are realizing this simple truth once
again. Meditation groups are at work throughout the world trying to raise
the "vibrations" of our planet and repair some of the damage caused by
centuries of thoughtless negativity. Working with thoughts and feelings in
this impartial way is what the ancients meant by Distillation.
We must remember that the intentional articulation of thought is how
things are manifested. Consciousness is a force in the universe, and words
really do have power. Words can be sacred, and being well-spoken in the
Hermetic sense is connecting your words with the archetypal essences
that give them power and meaning. You are yourself the living Word of the
cosmos, and you embody the sulfuric awareness and mercurial
imagination that materialize the salt of existence. And if you can clear
yourself of all the falsity, fantasy, and ignorance around you, if you can
return to your most innocent essence, you too can work the miracles of
Hermes.
How can mortals work miracles? We work miracles all the time without
even being aware of it. All of us are incarnations of Hermes and are
constantly either creating lead or gold in our lives. Since we can feel what
others feel and think what others think, we can change our personal reality
by thinking and feeling like certain people. We must learn to think and feel
like the person we want to become. We know what it is to be young; we
know what it is to be completely healthy; we know what it is to be creative
and insightful. By applying the power of True Imagination, anything is
possible. However, because the universe is alive with Mind, our
empowered thoughts have repercussions which can produce results we do
not expect. There is no way of escaping the power of Thoth, the God of
Thought. If you deny it, it will hide from you according to your command. In
alchemy, justice means you create your own reality whether or not you are
aware of it.
Those who have undgergone Distillation know that eternity is all around
us. It is in every moment we let slip by. Forming a mystical connection to

both matter and the present moment (both space and time) is the key to
entering the final stage of alchemical transformation. Distill the present
moment and find the First Matter and everything -- everywhere and
everywhen -- is yours!
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Arcanum Seven: The eternal Stone is a purified consciousness

that remains intact on all levels.
As Hermes never tires of telling us, over and over, over and over: the
One Thing and the One Mind are One. He means that mind and body, Soul
and Spirit, male and female, positive and negative, Above and Below, are
all One. All sexes, all races, all species, all life is One. All life, all death; all
heroes, all villains; all angels, all demons; all gods, all devils are One.
Unless you find this One Presence within you -- what the alchemists called
the Stone -- you cannot escape the continual dance of becoming that is
duality, even for an instant. "All Is One" is the message of the Ouroboros
and the basis of the alchemical principle of changing one thing into
another. Alchemical transformation would not be possible unless
everything were really One.
Renaissance alchemists sometimes referred to the Stone as the
"Telesma," which means a self-perfecting physical presence similar to our
modern idea of the force behind nature or evolution. By working with the
Telesma, the alchemists hoped to speed up the process of our species
evolution, to truly participate in the work of nature, to affect it and
transform it, making of it not an evolutionary phenomena but a
revolutionary happening within ones own lifetime.
The Stone is the emerging pattern that resulted from the tireless work of
the alchemists in past millennia. It is our true legacy, a gift to each of us
from each of them. Apollonius of Tyana even included it in his will to us!
Yet for each of us, the only Stone, the only magical talisman we ever need
to carry, is our own bodies -- on whatever level they manifest. We can
either begin personal Coagulation and make of the Stone a truly living
presence within us, or we can throw it all away. The choice is ours, yet if
we do not accept it as our salvation -- if we do not suffer for this Stone -- all
is lost. In her article "Annals of the Invisible College," recently published in
Lapis magazine, author Jocelyn Godwin presents an impartial and startling
summary of the Hermetic Tradition:
"There is nothing left of most peoples souls once they have been filtered
through the planetary spheres. The vast majority will be extinguished as

personalities soon after death, then perhaps recycled as different people.

The adepts ambition is to survive this general Dissolution, and if he should
incarnate again, to do so only through deliberate choice, not through
bondage like everyone else. In order to pass beyond the boundaries of the
cosmos, symbolized by the starry sphere, and enter consciously into
another mode of existence, the adept must have forged, during life, a
radiant body as a vehicle for this individuality. Knowing of this hyperesoteric stream makes it easier to understand alchemy. The forging of the
radiant body goes in parallel with the chemical events, and its completion
is marked by the appearance of the Philosophers Stone."

Interview with an Alchemist: Dennis William

Hauck
Question: Most people think of alchemy as an early form of chemistry or see it
as part of the realm of magic. What is alchemy really?
Hauck: A single definition of alchemy is always hard to agree upon, since it is a
discipline that works on many different levels. We now know that it was not only a
precursor of chemistry but also of psychology, medicine, and even quantum
physics. It's been described as the Philosophy of Fire, the Art of Transformation,
the Science of Soul, and in many other ways. Unquestionably, alchemy the
oldest science, yet it is also part of our religious and spiritual traditions. And it is
magic too, just like any future science based on hidden principles would be
magic to those not familiar with it.
Question: What first got you interested in alchemy?
Hauck: I was in graduate school in mathematics at the University of Vienna,
when I came across a collection of old alchemy manuscripts in the library. Vienna
and nearby Prague were centers for the study of alchemy in the sixteenth century
and hundreds of alchemists migrated to the area. The first time I opened one of
their dusty treatises, the ancient tradition seemed to come alive in me. I gave up
my formal studies and spent my time translating alchemy books and meditating
on the strange drawings they contained, which I felt carried profound meaning. I
was convinced that their Great Work was the supreme truth in nature, and the
alchemists were really explorers of consciousness far ahead of their time.
Question: You gave up a career in mathematics to pursue a defunct Medieval
discipline?
Hauck: Not so hard to understand, really. I was fed up with American diploma
mills in which math was like a competitive sport to see who could break chalk the
fastest on blackboards. There is no beauty in math when it is nothing but

technique and speed. I wanted to be a mathematician, but I hated computers.

So, I went to Vienna to study mathematics in the intuitive tradition of Kurt Godel,
who had been a professor there. That is where I discovered that the alchemists
were centuries ahead of modern mathematicians in their grasp of reality.
Question: How could the alchemists know more than modern mathematics, the
Queen of the Sciences?
Hauck: It is not generally known, but Godel proved that ultimately, logical
thinking can never know truth. Without going into a lot of detail, he developed an
introspective form of mathematics that used self-referencing propositions to
expose fundamental problems in the foundations of mathematics. His
Incompleteness Theorem demonstrated that no matter what "axiomatic system"
or logical approach you take -- no matter how complicated -- you will never be
able to explain the complexity of the universe. In other words, provability is a
weaker notion that truth. I can show that right now, in fact. Just reflect on the
following sentence: "This statement is false." At first you think it is a false
statement, but you realize if the statement is really false, then it must be a true
statement; yet if it is a true statement, it cannot be a false statement. Try it! You
get caught in what Godel called a Strange Loop. So, there is something
fundamentally flawed in our idea of yes/no, true/untrue, and that means there is
something fundamentally wrong with binary logic itself, which is the heart of
computers.
Question: What has that got to do with alchemy?
Hauck: The alchemists realized that within the Strange Loop is where ultimate
truth lies. Most of their statements and drawings are actually Strange Loops that
have confounded people ever since they were first created. In fact, the symbol
for a Strange Loop is how the alchemists depicted the ultimate mystery of the
universe: the Ouroboros, the snake eating its own tail; and the solution to any
Strange Loop can be found in the caption the alchemists gave to their drawings
of the Ouroboros. It read "All Is One." Really, it is an ancient idea. It is what
Socrates meant by "Know thyself," although I believe that the earliest statement
on this planet of that concept was given to us in the Emerald Tablet, which is the
source and inspiration for all of alchemy. Every practicing alchemist had a copy
of the tablet close at hand and constantly referred to the "secret formula" it
contained.
Question: Isn't the Emerald Tablet the source of the phrase "As Above, So
Below?"
Hauck: Yes, though it really says "That which is Below corresponds to that which
is Above, and that which is Above corresponds to that which is Below." That
describes a much more dynamic system than just saying "As Above, So Below."
The Above and the Below are intimately related, constantly flowing into one

another and eternally changing into one another. That's the image of the
Ouroboros. But the biggest mistake people make is to think of them as static
concepts, such as seeing the Above as heaven or the Below as hell.
Question: How did the alchemists interpret the Above and the Below?
Hauck: Not only the alchemists but the ancients in general saw the Above as the
realm of the One Mind, the unnamable creator. It is divine thought or the Word
seeking manifestation. The Below was the realm of the One Thing, the actual
manifestation of divine thought. So the Above is full of the light of Mind, while the
Below is dark matter. Obviously, our notions of heaven and hell originated from
these ideas, yet there are important differences in the way modern people see
the Above and Below and the way the ancients saw them. For them both heaven
and hell (the Above and the Below) were close at hand. They felt they were
surrounded by manifestations of the divine Mind, and all of matter was alive with
the signature of God. And all they had to do was close their eyes to see into
Above and meditate to be in the divine presence, for the light of the One Mind
above was reflected in the mind of man below. Above and Below were not
faraway places you went to after you died. Doorways to them were everywhere
to be found. The One Mind was considered the source of thought, imagination,
and spirit; the One Thing was the source of sensation, feelings, and soul.
Question: Where did the Emerald Tablet come from?
Hauck: In my book, THE EMERALD TABLET, I trace the tablet from the
Egyptian inventor of math and science, Thoth, to the Pharaoh Akhenaten and
Moses, then down to Alexander the Great and the first-century sage Apollonius
of Tyana. Before Thoth we can only speculate, but there are tantalizing bits of
evidence that suggest mysterious visitors came to Egypt over 12,000 years ago
and brought with them a powerful spiritual technology, which they passed down
to future generations in a time capsule of wisdom that became known as the
Emerald Tablet. The Book of What Is In the Daat, the Book of the Dead and
other Egyptian funerary texts, and numerous rebirth texts refer to a remote epoch
known as the "Zep Tepi," a time before the Great Flood when the godlike beings
came to earth and established their kingdom in Egypt. They included Thoth, the
"god" of science and mathematics, who is said to have written the Emerald
Tablet and hid it in a pillar at Hermopolis to preserve it through the coming world
deluge.

Isaac Newton
Newton the Alchemist
Sir Isaac Newton, the famous seventeenth-century mathematician and scientist,
though not generally known as an alchemist, practiced the art with a passion.

Though he wrote over a million words on the subject, after his death in 1727, the
Royal Society deemed that they were "not fit to be printed." The papers were
rediscovered in the middle of the twentieth century and most scholars now
concede that Newton was first an foremost an alchemist. It is also becoming
obvious that the inspiration for Newton's laws of light and theory of gravity came
from his alchemical work.
If one looks carefully, in the light of alchemical knowledge, at the definitive
biography, Sir Isaac Newton by J. W. V. Sullivan, it is quite easy to realize the
alchemical theories from which he was working. Sir Arthur Eddington, in
reviewing this book, says: "The science in which Newton seems to have been
chiefly interested, and on which he spent most of his time was alchemy. He read
widely and made innumerable experiments, entirely without fruit so far as we
know." One of his servants records: "He very rarely went to bed until two or three
of the clock, sometimes not till five or six, lying about four or five hours, especially
at springtime or autumn, at which time he used to employ about six weeks in his
laboratory, the fire scarce going out night or day. What his aim might be I was
unable to penetrate into." The answer is that Newton's experiments were
concerned with nothing more or less than alchemy. (from Alchemy Rediscovered
and Restored by A. Cockren)
As a practicing alchemist, Newton spent days locked up in his laboratory, and not
a few have suggested that he finally succeeded in transmuting lead into gold.
Perhaps that explains one of the oddest things about his life. At the height of his
career, instead of accepting a professorship at Cambridge, he was appointed
Director of the Mint with the responsibility of securing and accounting for
England's repository of gold.
In fact, Newton -- the revered founder of modern science and the mechanistic
universe -- also ranks as one of the greatest spiritual alchemists of all time. In his
The Religion of Isaac Newton (Oxford 1974), F.E. Manuel concluded: "The more
Newton's theological and alchemical, chronological and mythological work is
examined as a whole corpus, set by the side of his science, the more apparent it
becomes that in his moments of grandeur he saw himself as the last of the
interpreters of God's will in actions, living on the fulfillment of times."
The Hermetic Tradition
This view has become more accepted in recent years, as more of Newton's
private papers and alchemical treatises are being reexamined. "Like all European
alchemists from the Dark Ages to the beginning of the scientific era and beyond,"
states Michael White in Isaac Newton:The Last Sorcerer (Addison Wesley 1997),
"Newton was motivated by a deep-rooted commitment to the notion that
alchemical wisdom extended back to ancient times. The Hermetic tradition -- the
body of alchemical knowledge -- was believed to have originated in the mists of
time and to have been given to humanity through supernatural agents."

Newton's Translation of the Emerald Tablet

It is true without lying, certain and most true. That which is Below is like that
which is Above and that which is Above is like that which is Below to do the
miracles of the Only Thing. And as all things have been and arose from One by
the mediation of One, so all things have their birth from this One Thing by
adaptation. The Sun is its father; the Moon its mother; the Wind hath carried it in
its belly; the Earth is its nurse. The father of all perfection in the whole world is
here. Its force or power is entire if it be converted into Earth. Separate the Earth
from the Fire, the subtle from the gross, sweetly with great industry. It ascends
from the Earth to the Heavens and again it descends to the Earth and receives
the force of things superior and inferior. By this means you shall have the glory of
the whole world and thereby all obscurity shall fly from you. Its force is above all
force, for it vanquishes every subtle thing and penetrates every solid thing. So
was the world created. From this are and do come admirable adaptations,
whereof the process is here in this. Hence am I called Hermes Trismegistus,
having the three parts of the philosophy of the whole world. That which I have
said of the operation of the Sun is accomplished and ended.
Newton on Keeping Alchemy Secret
Isaac Newton wrote fellow alchemist Robert Boyle a letter urging him to keep
"high silence" in publicly discussing the principles of alchemy. "Because the way
by the Mercurial principle may be impregnated has been thought fit to be
concealed by others that have know it," Newton wrote, "and therefore may
possibly be an inlet to something more noble that is not to be communicated
without immense damage to the world if there be any verity in [the warning of the]
Hermetic writers. There are other things besides the transmutation of metals
which none but they understand." According to B.J.T. Dobbs in The Foundations
of Newton's Alchemy (Cambridge University Press, 1984), "The fact that Newton
never published a work on alchemy cannot be taken to mean that he knew he
had failed [at the Great Work]. On the contrary, it probably means that he had
enough success to think that he might be on the track of something of
fundamental importance and so had good reason for keeping his 'high silence,'
even though there is nothing to indicate that he himself was searching for that
mysterious "inlet to something more noble."

Islamic Alchemy: The Sufi Vision

Sufism
Islam has a highly developed system of spiritual alchemy that has as its basis the
mystical experiences of Mohammed himself. By the fourth century, most of these
mystical practices were embodied in a branch of Islamic philosophy called
"Sufism." The word comes from the Arabic word for "wool" (suf) and refers to the

practice by early Sufi mysitcs of wearing rough, white, woolen robes that
symbolized their purity and rejection of the world.
One of Sufism's major voices was Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi, a thirteenth-century
Persian poet. Like the spiritual alchemists of Europe, he described two ways of
knowing reality. One is the intellectual (or Solar Consciousness), and the other is
intuitive (Lunar Consciousness). For the Western mind, the nature of Lunar
Consciousness, which comes from direct illumination and inspiration, is the
hardest to understand. Rumi described it thus:
"Do you know a name without a thing answering to it? Have you ever plucked a
rose from R, O, S, E? You name His name; go, seek the reality named by it!
Look for the Moon in the sky, not in the Water! If you desire to rise above mere
names and letters, make yourself free of self at one stroke. Become pure from all
attributes of self, that you may see your own bright essence. Yea, see in your
own heart the knowledge of the Prophet -- without book, without tutor, without
preceptor."

Quotations Reflecting the Operations of Alchemy

Calcination
Like the Sun of neither east or west nor of anyplace when that Sun arrives.
- "Subtle Degrees" by Rumi (translated by Daniel Liebert in The Rumi Collection, Threshold
Books, Brattleboro, VT 1996.)

Dissolution
When a seed falls into the ground, it germinates, grows, and becomes a tree: if
you understand these symbols, you'll follow us, and fall to the ground, with us.
- "With Us" by Rumi (translated by Nevit Ergin and Camille Helminski in The Rumi Collection,
Threshold Books, Brattleboro, VT 1996.)

Desire only that of which you have no hope; seek only that of which you have no
clue.
Love is the sea of not-being and there the intellect drowns.
- "Subtle Degress" by Rumi (translated by Daniel Liebert in The Rumi Collection, Threshold
Books, Brattleboro, VT 1996.)

Separation

You are cold, but you expect kindness. What you do comes back in the same
form. God is compassionate, but if you plant barley, don't expect to harvest
wheat.
- Unseen Rain: Quatrains of Rumi by John Moyne and Coleman Barks (Threshold Books,
Battleboro, VT 1986.)

Conjunction
Burning with longing-fire, wanting to sleep with my head on your doorsill, my
living is composed only of this trying to be in your Presence.
Wine to intensify love; fire to consume. We bring these, not like images from a
dream reality, but as an actual night to live through until dawn.
- Unseen Rain: Quatrains of Rumi by John Moyne and Coleman Barks (Threshold Books,
Battleboro, VT 1986.)

Fermentation
The wine we really drink is our own blood. Our bodies ferment in these barrels.
We give everything for a glass of this. We give our minds for a sip.
- Unseen Rain: Quatrains of Rumi by John Moyne and Coleman Barks (Threshold Books,
Battleboro, VT 1986.)

Distillation
Wandering the high empty plain for some indication you've been there, I find an
abandoned body, a detached head.
- Unseen Rain: Quatrains of Rumi by John Moyne and Coleman Barks (Threshold Books,
Battleboro, VT 1986.)

Coagulation
Lying back in this Presence, no longer able to eat or drink, I float freely, like a
corpse in the ocean.
- Unseen Rain: Quatrains of Rumi by John Moyne and Coleman Barks (Threshold Books,
Battleboro, VT 1986.)

Jewish Alchemy: the Kabbalah

The Divine Origin of the Kabbalah

By many centuries antedating the Christian era, and older than the Mosaic
traditions, indeed, in its origin older than the Egyptian or any other system of
religion or philosophy now known, the Kabbalah has all the claims to respectful
consideration that antiquity can confer. These claims are enhanced and
intensified when we discover evidence, not merely of its early origin, but of its
important influence, in their structure and teachings, upon the religions of all
lands and ages. Yet but few, even of the modern mystical thinkers, know enough
of the wondrous Kabbalah to have the faintest conception of the vast debt the
world of all ages has owed to that grand system of philosophy. Even while using
the symbols, quoting the language, repeating the ideas, teaching and maintaining
the doctrines of the Kabbalah, writers of modern times are generally ignorant of
the source of the symbols, language, ideas and doctrines, and hence, naturally,
they fail to realize their beautiful significance, far-reaching scope, and more than
marvelous harmony.
The Kabbalists claim that the source from which their knowledge is derived is
divine; that God reveals it to the pure in heart alone, and that the fountain of the
true Light of knowledge is itself known to those only who are illuminated by that
Light within their souls. The philosophy of the Kabbalah was expressed in
symbols, some of which are in use among the Masonic and other secret
fraternities of our day, though much of their ancient force and beauty, which
depended very largely and in some cases entirely upon their Hermetic meanings,
is lost by erroneous interpretations.
Keys to the Kabbalah
The symbols of Masonry are Kabbalistic, and were known to the alchemists
Zoroaster, Pythagoras, Apollonius, Raymond Lully, Cornelius Agrippa, Fludd,
Boehme and others. Solomon's Temple, with its marvels of beauty and grandeur,
its strikingly distinct and different parts, its still more striking diversities of material
and style-all blending in one superb, gorgeous, and absolutely harmonious whole
was the grand panoramic symbol -- a complete epitome and miniature, of the
universe as portrayed in the Kabbalah. The history of its builder, Hiram, is a
curious, strangely fascinating history, but it is foreign to our present subject, and
we must pass it by with the single remark that he was a Kabbalist of the clearest
type. He who exactly understands SoIomon's Temple, in its details and in its
entirety, is both a true Templer, Mason, and Kabbalist -- therefore, an initiate of
the highest order.
There are two keys to its symbolism that will unlock the secrets of the Kabbalah,
open the sanctuaries of the initiates where the knowledge of its full significance is
still hidden, and expose to the understanding eye the mysteries of Hermetic
philosophy.
The keys we shall use in deciphering the Kabbalah are the ideas of Light and
Heat. As we have intimated, the Kabbalah treats of two distinct subjects:

philosophy and religion, which correspond to our two keys. Though distinct, these
two keys are in perfect accord as found in the Kabbalah, and show the sublime
harmony that must ever characterize the relations of true Religion and true
Science, since both are from the one divine source and have one central theme
(Truth), they cannot, in the final analysis, be antagonistic or even really diverge.
So in the final analysis, our two keys of Light and Fire are really just one key to
all.
The First Key: Light
Light is the foundation upon which rests the superstructure of the Kabbalistic
theosophy. Light is the source and center of the entire harmonious system. Light
was the first-born of God -- His first manifestation of Himself in the universe. No
man can know God except as He manifests Himself in Light -- not visible or
sensible light, seen by man's carnal eye but intellectual and spiritual Light,
apparent only to the inner vision of those illuminated by that Light. Indeed, the
Bible, in both the Jewish and Christian parts, abounds in the Kabbalistic
distinction between the outward or objective, and the inward or subjective Light.
The outward light is a manifestation of Himself by the same Supreme Being, but
inferior in degree and in its influences, though still glorious.
The treatise Wisdom of Solomon is said to have been written in Alexandria in the
time of Jerome and is attributed to Philo. But Philo could not have been its
author, as his known views were clearly opposed to much that is found therein.
The wisdom it enunciates is claimed to be that taught to Moses in Egypt. It
describes God as "Illuminated Time;" no origin can be assigned to Him; He is
engulfed in His own glory, "dwelling in the Light that no man can approach onto."
Creation is said to have consisted in emanations from Him, which dispelled the
primordial darkness.
While the Wisdom of Solomon is greatly valued by Kabbalists, their primary
works are the Zohar (or Book of Light) and the Sepher Jezera (or Book of the
Creation). The Zohar was written by Simeon ben Jochai and first printed in
Mantua in 1558. The author of the Sepher Jezera is unknown and scholars place
its origin at sometime between 100 B.C. to 800 A.D. Actually, the opinion
prevalent among Kabbalists is that the Sepher Jetzera, is a monologue of the
patriarch Abraham, and they believe that his contemplations induced the
patriarch of patriarchs to abandon the worship of the heavenly bodies and
become the servant of the one true God. The Rabbi Jahuda Levi, who flourished
and wrote in the eleventh century, says: "The Book of the Creation, which
belongs to our Father Abraham, demonstrates the existence of the deity and the
divine Unity, by things that are, on the one hand, manifold and multifarious, while,
on the other hand, they converge and harmonize; and this harmony can only
proceed from the One who originates it."
Kabbalah's Connection to the Old Testament

The design of this work is to declare a system in which the universe may be
viewed in connection with the truths found in the Old Testament, in such a way
as to show, by tracing the gradual and orderly process of creation and the
harmony which characterizes its details and its perfection, that one God
produces all and is over all. The order and harmony of creation is deduced from
the analogy subsisting between the visible things and the signs of thought. The
Sepher Jetzera is regarded as the basis of, and key to, the teachings of the
Zohar, though the arrangement and plan of the two works differ somewhat. In the
Zohar dwells with great emphasis upon the Kabbalistic doctrinal teachings on
Light. The treatise declares that Light is the primordial essence of the universe,
and that all life and motion proceed from it. Light is the vital dynamic force in
Nature. It also declares that it is by the study of Light that we are enabled to
acquire knowledge of the unknowable or causal world. Light is Jacob's Ladder by
which we ascend to Celestial knowledge, the upper rundle being in the fourth
Sephira, represented by the Pentagram.
In considering the Kabbalah and the Kabbalists, we must never lose sight of the
philosophy's intimate connection with the Bible; it is really an enlightened
commentary on the sacred scriptures. The scriptures have, running all through
their inspired lines and words, a two-fold meaning: an outward meaning which
may be perceived by any candid reader, and an inward or hidden meaning that
"the carnal mind cannot receive, because it is foolishness to it." Being spiritual,
this meaning can only be "spiritually discerned. " It is the province of the
Kabbalah to shed the Light of Truth upon this second meaning.
Solomon Gabirol, an Arabian philosopher, wrote, under the pseudonym of
Avicebron, about the middle of the eleventh century, two works of value to those
interested in Hermetic philosophy; they were Liber de Causis (or Book of
Causes) and Fons Vitae (or Source of Life). He speaks of the unity of Light as it
arises from the throne of the Most High, which subjectively becomes divided into
nine categories. This united Light he calls "the substance of the intellect," on
account of its having been the receptacle of the Divine Will when God said " Let
there be Light." When describing God in his Liber de Causis, Gabirol states that
He is wise, and from His wisdom He has seen fit to make His Will manifest in
Light, and all existences and substances in creation are created and sustained
by God through Light. His Will, His Divinity, His Unity, His Eternity, and His very
existence, are profound mysteries, and we can know Him only through His
manifestations of Himself in Light. Gabirol speaks of the absurdity of a finite
mind's attempting to define God. If it could it be done, he asserts, it would make
Him a finite being.
Ten Emanations from the Mind of God
The ten Sephira of the Kabbalah illustrate in symbol the Kabbalistic conception of
the universe as it came from the incomprehensible Supreme Will of the Most
High. The Crown is called the Kether or En Soph (the Endless, the Ineffable),

because in it and by it God manifested the power of His Will in creation. Since
Light is His creative agent, so this En Soph is the source from which Light flows,
the Fons Lucis (Source of Light). The En Soph was not created by God, but
emanated from Him to manifest Himself. In the Crown, Light is pure white, utterly
indiscernible by the physical eye, and in it resides the life and dynamic power of
the universe. The ten Sephira emanate from this En Soph, the Unity, in nine
categories, or spheres, making ten in the complete figure. The number ten is
called a "perfect number" and symbolized the unity and synthesis of creation.
The First Triad of Emanations: The Celestial Sun
Pythagoras in his Tetractys gives, besides the Sephiroth, a representation of the
creation composed of the four letters of the Ineffable Name of God, the "FourLetter Name" as it has been called. This name Pythagoras tells us is the key to
the mysteries of the Kabbalah. Pythagoras employed numbers in representing
his ideas of creation, while the Egyptian Kabbalists used letters, words, and
numbers. All Kabbalists represent the properties of Light as dual, calling the parts
the two hands of Deity. Although it possesses duality, it maintains its unity and
harmony until it becomes focalized in Astral Suns, which are illustrated by the
sephiretic "Tree of Life." As we have said, the En Soph (or Kether the Crown) is
the fountain or source of Light, which manifests itself in the two lower Sephira,
Binah and Hokmah (Intelligence and Wisdom), with masculine and feminine, or
active and passive, functions. These functions are strikingly manifested in the
light of our own Sun, which must be understandingly be distinguished before we
can determine its various and diverse action and influence upon the human
organism. En Soph, Binah, and Hokmah form the first triad of the Sephiroth, and
lines connecting them bound the World of Briah, the Super-Celestial World or the
World of Spirit. [The alchemists would have called these three Salt, Sulfur, and
Mercury.]
The Fourth Emanation: The Tipheroth
Light is then focalized forming the fourth Sephira, which is the Celestial Sun,
called Tifereth (Resplendence or Magnificence) because of the resplendent,
magnificent whiteness of its Light, while its immensity is recognized in its further
designation as "Greatness." This is the Central Sun of the entire universe, visible
only to the spiritual or subjective sight, never to the natural or objective vision. It
is to the Astral Suns precisely what they are to the respective planets that they
control, illuminate and sustain, and which revolve around them. It controls,
illuminates, and sustains the Astral Suns, and around it they revolve. Without it
they could no more maintain their equilibrium in space than could the planets
hold their positions without their corresponding physical Suns.
This great Celestial Luminary possesses the dual properties of Light and Fire, but
in absolute equilibrium and perfect harmony. This perfect harmony embraces the
rays of the Light, and the "chemistry" of the Fire. It is this harmony in the blending

of the rays that produces the resplendent, magnificent white of which we have
spoken as the characteristic of the Celestial Sun, and which justly gains the
appellation Tifereth. The objective vision cannot conceive, as it could not endure,
the white splendor of this glorious Orb of orbs.
When Moses desired to see the glory of God, this Celestial Light, God kindly
replied: "Thou must not see my face: for there shall no man see me and live."
The near approach of the glory made the face of Moses so lustrous that upon his
return to the people, they could not endure the sight, and he was compelled to
put a veil over his face while he talked with them. And when Saul and his
companions were riding, upon their journey from Jerusalem to Damascus,
suddenly there shone about them a beam from the Celestial Sun; so intense was
its Light that they all fell to the ground, and Saul's eyes were temporarily blinded
and permanently affected by the Light, which he described as: "a Light from
heaven, above the brightness of the Sun."
The Law of Harmony
We have already alluded to the fact that the one attribute that pre-eminently
distinguishes the Kabbalistic system is its complete and absolute harmony. But
more may be claimed: This harmony is not only the strongest evidence, but it is
an all-sufficient and conclusive proof of the divine origin of the Kabbalah. For in
God's universe, in its every department, separately and collectively, harmony is
the one positive law that is never disobeyed without immediate and inevitable
consequences exactly proportional to the extent and nature of that
"disobedience." [This Law of Harmony is what the Emerald Tablet calls "the
Operation of the Sun."] No merely human system of action or ethics, of living or
belief has ever been or can ever be devised wherein this divine harmony is not
wanting; the most skillfully and cunningly planned and practiced counterfeit bears
this evidence upon its face of the absence of the divine hand in its construction. It
has been well said: "Harmony is God's unique law." So, when we find in the
Sephiroth a positive unity, in their relation to each other and to the universe a
positive accord, and in the system throughout, of which these are the symbolic
declaration, a like oneness arising from marvelous harmony and sublime
concord, we can believe that God, the personification of harmony and concord,
has inspired the Kabbalah.
In the movement of the heavenly bodies -- the planets and their suns and moons
and satellites -- none question or can question the importance of this Law of
Harmony. With the slightest defect in this respect, not only would their respective
order and movements be disarranged and confusion ensue, but the very
existence of some of the weaker ones would be destroyed by contact with their
stronger neighbors, while the stronger bodies would necessarily suffer
immeasurably. Set aside the Law of Harmony in the planetary system, and chaos
would soon prevail. The same law is vital too in each individual member of the
universe; take our Sun for an illustration. Place discord instead of harmony in its

structure, and beauty would give place to distressing ugliness, utility to horrible
destructiveness; its orderly movements would become wanderings through
space to the peril of all the planets. And so with any one of the suns or their
planets, the loss of harmony would inevitably destroy their beauty and usefulness
in the universe.
As God is One, so is this law uniform in all His works. In what we call the laws of
Nature, His Will is seen in the presence and influence of this same Law of
Harmony: every positive has a negative, every active a passive; every destroying
element is opposed or corrected by a restoring principle. Let the forces of
attraction become weak or impaired, will not the repellent forces work
destruction? And the converse is no less sure: Let the centrifugal force in any
instance fall below the centripetal, or the latter yield to the former, and the
consequence will soon be apparent. Let the polarizing ray in light lose its
influence, and decay and death come speedily to tell the story of the absence of
harmony to even the most ignorant and unobservant. It is this eternal harmony
[symbolized in the alchemical symbol of the Ouroboros] that gives us all of
beauty and beneficence we see in Nature; harmony amidst its constituents gives
us beauty in Light, sweetness in sound, and all else that we enjoy in life is
equally dependent on this law of God.
In the mortal world, the same God exacts obedience to the same Law of
Harmony as the price of order and propriety, and disregard of its stringent
requirements, even in what we are prone to call trivial matters, is as surely and
as swiftly followed by a proportionate penalty as in the planetary and worlds. And
in the Above, the World of Eternal Peace and Blessedness, we cannot doubt the
assurance that order is Heaven's first law. The Law of Harmony finds there its
most complete fruition, because there it is never disregarded, and that fruition is
joy and happiness unspeakable, glory ineffable, and perfect life forever and
forever. Well may we believe that there is no sorrow or sighing, no pain or
sickness, no decay or death, in that place where God's unique Law of Harmony
is perfectly and absolutely and always obeyed.
The Breath of God Upon the World
The Rouach Elohim (Breath of God) that brooded over or "moved upon the face
of the waters" was held by the alchemists to have been Light from the Celestial
Sun shining thereon. The star symbol within the Sephira Tifereth, in its upright,
proper position represents the principle of good, when inverted it represents the
evil principle. The five-pointed star seen on the disk of Tifereth is the flaming
pentagram of the Kabbalists and of the Magi of the Orient. It was the glorious
Star of Bethlehem that was the Celestial forerunner of the Christian "Light of the
World." Pentagrams thus constitute powerful talismans, but to be effective they
must be most accurately made and carefully handled and placed.

The Apocalypse of John is full of passages that can be read with ease by the
help of the Kabbalah; indeed there are passages that indicate John was a
Kabbalist of a high order. Among these we must cite one. He tells of a most
remarkable vision : "And there appeared a great wonder in heaven, a woman
clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of
twelve stars . . ." The Rosicrucians call the Light of the Celestial Sun the Divine
Sophia (Wisdom) because of its purity and its passivity in matter. The Egyptian
alchemists called this light Isis and represented her as a pure woman. Since the
Light of the Celestial Sun is invisible to mere mortals, seen only by the subjective
sight of the illuminated, they clothed Isis with an objective Sun; as the Celestial
Sun is greatness and majesty, they placed under the feet of Isis the Crescent
Moon, beneath which but outside the sacred circle, was a vanquished Fiery
Serpent; then, as a token of the supremacy of Tifereth in the universe, they
surrounded the head of Isis with a halo of twelve stars.
Doubtless, Sophia of the Rosicrucians and Isis of the Egyptian alchemists are the
same as the wondrous woman in John's vision. If he read John's narrative of that
vision a little farther, we will find the vanquished Serpent beneath Isis's feet in the
Apocalyptic "great red dragon." The figure of Isis clothed with the Sun is one of
the most impressive of the symbolic pictures of the Kabbalistic principles. When
a person by Self-denial, meditation, and devotion has attained to the high
privilege of subjective vision, he sees Isis or the Light of the subjective Sun. This
is truly the mystical "lifting the veil of Isis."
The Hexad: The Second and Third Triads of Emanation
The Celestial Sun, we have seen, is the fourth Sephira. The fifth, sixth, seventh,
and eighth Sephira are called, respectively, Hesed (Strength), Gevurah (Beauty),
Netsah (Firmness), and Hod (Splendor). These Sephira represent four of the
component colors of Light: Red, Yellow, Green and Blue. The Kabbalists fully
understood the colors, their influence in Light and in Nature, their distinctive
properties, and their action together and separately. They considered Red and
Yellow the masculine or active colors and Green and Blue the feminine or
passive colors. Red and yellow expressed the active, polarizing quality of Fire
and Green and Blue, the passive, decomposing quality of Water.
The Celestial Sun having thus given forth the colors, as they come together
again, or are focused, in Astral Suns, which appear as the ninth Sephira,
designated Yesod (Foundation) because they are the centers of their systems,
the life producers, propagators, and sustainers for the worlds that depend upon
them.
Tifereth, Hesed and Gevurah form the second Triad, and Yesod, Netsah and
Hod the third; these two Triads combined constitute the Hexad, which is the Soul
of the World, and of it are derived the souls of all individualized existences. The
second Triad depending upon the Celestial Sun is subjective, the third sustained

by the Astral Suns is objective; the Hexad composed of the two contains both the
subjective and objective principles, and souls consequently are likewise dual in
their character. The objective or Solar part receives material impressions, and
through it we obtain our knowledge of the material universe, the world of effects
not causes. The subjective or Lunar part receives spiritual impressions, called
intuitive perceptions, and it urges us to earnest seeking after illumination and
Divine Wisdom. The Rosicrucians call the unitary Light of the Celestial Sun,
Sophia (Wisdom of God). and Gevurah form the second Triad, and Yesod,
Netsah and Hod the third; these two Triads combined constitute the Hexad,
which is the Soul of the World, and of it are derived the souls of all individualized
existences. The second Triad depending upon the Celestial Sun is subjective,
the third sustained by the Astral Suns is objective; the Hexad composed of the
two contains both the subjective and objective principles, and souls consequently
are likewise dual in their character. The objective or Solar part receives material
impressions, and through it we obtain our knowledge of the material universe, the
world of effects not causes. The subjective or Lunar part receives spiritual
impressions, called intuitive perceptions, and it urges us to earnest seeking after
illumination and Divine Wisdom. The Rosicrucians call the unitary Light of the
Celestial Sun, Sophia (Wisdom of God).
The Kabbalists maintain that the want of harmony of these two opposing parts
within the soul places man in bondage to materiality and in darkness of higher
Truths. The mission of the Kabbalist was to deliver individuals from this bondage
and make them free by restoring the equilibrium or harmony within his soul.
Those who achieve this deliverance and become obedient to the unitary divine
principle, are called by the Kabbalists Illuminati because their souls are
illuminated by the Light of the Celestial Sun, the Divine Sophia.
The Second Key to the Kabbalah: Fire
As, we have learned, pure white Light is the characteristic of En Soph (or Kether)
and its Triad of the super-celestial world, and of Tifereth and its portion of the
Hexad. This Light, too pure and dazzling for mortal vision, is seen alone by the
subjective vision. Coming down to the objective portion of the Hexad, we find that
Light loses its pure intense luster and becomes visible to the human organ of
sight and this is because the Fire principle becomes ascendent in matter. Thus in
the subjective portion of the soul Light rules and in the objective portion Fire is
dominant. If the case where Light prevails, "the fruits of the Spirit" testify to its
influence, but if the second state where Fire prevails, "the works of the flesh"
bear witness to its buried power. The Kabbalists aptly call the soul in which the
Celestial Sophia reigns, a Light Soul, while they as aptly style the soul wherein
the subjective is subdued by the objective a Dark Soul. The former, the Child of
Light or Illuminatus, cannot hide his Light. It will shine forth in his works and
make him a Light of the World. However, so long as the Fire principle
predominates, the Kabbalists tell us the soul cannot soar Above where the Divine

Light is manifested, but it remains in bondage to darkness hovering around this

world, trapped in matter.
While Fire appears to be an evil principle, the reader must not imagine that it is
necessarily, in itself evil. It becomes an evil when the Law of Harmony no longer
restrains its power, when it becomes master instead of servant. In Tifereth and in
the Celestial World, there is Fire as well as Light, but perfect harmony keeps it in
its place, so to speak, and it performs its assigned work in obedience to the Law
of Harmony. What we have said of the duality of the soul, suggests a few words
concerning the Kabbalistic doctrine of "probation." The Kabbalah teaches that the
mundane life is one of probation for the development of the spirit and purification
of the soul, just as the fetal or embryonic life is a probation for the development
of the physical form. The interplay of Light and Fire during these incarnated
periods determine the character of the individual.
In the Tree of Life, a stylized conception of the ten Sephira, lines connecting the
fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth Sephira -- the Hexad -- bind Jezirah
(the Celestial or Soul World). It is composed of the four Celestial elements, the
universal Hyle (Ether), the First Matter, the Abyss, and the "Water Above the
Firmament" (the "Fiery Water" of the alchemists). These elements are
represented by the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth Sephira and correspond to the
four elements of the material world: Air, Earth, Fire, and Water. The Rouach
Elohim broods over "the Waters Above the Firmament," and the angels, having
themselves in their pure depths and living off Celestial ambrosia or Elixir,
preserve their perfect health and ever refresh and renew their strength, vigor and
vitality.
The Ninth Sephira: The Astral Sun of Fire and Light
The ninth Sephira, Yesod (Foundation), so named because it is the life-source
and sustainer of the life of and upon the Terrestrial Worlds, represent the Astral
Suns, or the Suns of the material worlds. These are emanations from the
Celestial Sun, and they receive their Light and all their powers from that Central
Orb. The Light of this Central Sun being too pure for mortal eyes, it is modified in
the Astral Suns by permitting the Fire principle to prevail sufficiently to adapt it to
human sight. The Law of Harmony is thus made less stringent in the Astral Sun
not only to make them objectively visible, but to render their elements capable of
Separation and Putrefaction, and thus suit them, as we shall see, to the
necessities of the material worlds. This relaxing of the Law of Harmony enables
us to use the two elements, Light and Fire, in a measure separately. It further
enables us to analyze or separate the constituents of Light and Fire and apply
them to multifarious and important uses of the material world.
Though God thus relaxes His Law of Harmony, it is only for the good of His
creatures He does so, and He wisely maintains the law sufficiently in force to
hold the Suns in their places and keep them to the Great Work He requires of

them in His universal economy. Though He permits them to send forth

destructive elements, He compels them to send likewise elements which,
intelligently applied, counterbalance and antidote their power for evil, or
compensate and remedy any evil wrought. Such is the teaching of the Kabbalah.
The Astral Suns are truly, though in less or inferior degree, manifestations of the
Divine Will. Since "no man can see Him and live," He will not show even Moses
all His glory, though He manifests himself in a special manner to him, and in an
entirely different and less glorious manner to the Israelites as a people. So now
to those who can behold it and live, He manifests himself in the Celestial Sun,
and to those spiritually blind and incapable of receiving or enjoying so glorious a
manifestation, He appears in the less glorious Astral Suns.
In fact, God has often chosen the element of Fire as His medium. For example,
at His first appearing to Moses in the Burning Bush, and upon Mount Sinai to the
children of Israel, when "the sight of the glory of Jehovah was like devouring fire
on the top of the mount in the eyes of the children of Israel." In numerous
instances, when His presence was especially required, He came in fire to
consume sacrifices upon altars, as when the prophet wished to attest His true
majesty and prove the Baal counterfeit. It was, no doubt, in consequence of
God's frequent manifestation of Himself in and by Fire that the Persians and
other people learned to regard Fire as the special symbol of God's presence, and
worshipped Fire, or worshipped God As Fire. The ancient alchemist Zoroaster
regarded the astral Suns as emblems of the Sun of Truth, or the True Sun, the
great Central Orb of the Universe -- a shadow of the first source of all Splendor.
For this reason, wise men of olden time saluted the rising of the sun in the east
and the setting in the west, although they have been accused as being Sunworshippers.
The Tenth Sephira: The Material Sun
The tenth Sephira is Malkuth (or Azirah, the material world or world of darkness),
so named because the Divine or Celestial Light is not visible therein. Science
teaches us that white is the harmonious blending of all the colors of Light, and
that Black is the absence of all the colors. And where all the colors are absent,
Light is certainly absent. Utter darkness is positive blackness, hence, darkness is
the absence of Light. The Kabbalah tells us that when man disobeyed His
Creator in attempting to steal forbidden knowledge, God punished him by
withdrawing from him the Celestial Light in which he had hitherto basked, and
God enforced the penalty by depriving him of the Light of Life, and thus of real
Life itself. For spiritual Life is the real Life, and it is dependent absolutely upon
Celestial Light. Man, having now fallen from the condition of harmony with God,
and thus losing the capacity to enjoy close communion with Him, was "cast out of
the garden" of Divine association and fellowship. The "flaming sword" that
inhibited his approach to the "Tree of Life" was the prevalence in and about him
of the Fire principle, which excluded him from further partaking of the Divine
Sophia, that reaches the Law of Harmony and thus imparts the ability to "live

forever." Man, having lost spiritual sight and life, could not bequeath these to his
posterity, and all his race are consequently "born blind." But the All Wise One did
not will that man should be perpetually blind and dead spiritually, and while His
Justice was punishing, His Mercy announced a plan of again bringing "Life and
Immortality to Light" by a new manifestation of Himself. That Divine plan is the
inherent alchemy in man and in the universe
As part of the alchemy, Kabbalists have always maintained that Water contains
Earth (earthly matter), and that the inorganic matter of the planets was
precipitated from Water. This has been positively contradicted by modern
science, though the alchemists have demonstrated it repeatedly, having
precipitated from the pure oxygen and hydrogen of which water is composed
copious quantities of an substance known as Adamac Earth.
The Unspeakable Name
The Greek alchemist Pythagoras correctly regarded the Ineffable Name of God -the Tetragrammaton or Four Letter Name -- as the key to the mysteries of the
universe and of its creation and preservation. This is "the Name" that so many
have sought, that they might unlock the mystical secrets of Magic, discover the
treasures of Symbolism, and fathom the depths of All Learning and Wisdom.
Swedenborg declared "the Name" to have been lost, but he erred. According to
the Kabbalists, it was only its pronunciation, and unfortunately its vibratory
power, that was lost or obscured. "And God spoke unto Moses, and said unto
him, I am the Lord: and I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob,
by the name of God Almighty, but by my Name "Jehovah" was I not known to
them." This Name in the Hebrew has but four letters: yod (Y), he (H), vav (V),
and he (H). The four letters are rendered in English by the consonants Y, H, V,
and H since the vowels did not appear in the earlier written language of the
Hebrews. In this Name, the loss of the pronunciation was due to the superstitious
reverence the Hebrews entertained towards the word itself, which induced them
whenever it occurred to substitute an entirely different word (i.e., "Adonai") for it
in the reading. From this dread of the word and avoidance of it, in time its aweinspiring significance was lost. The Kabbalah has symbolized this "awe-full"
Name of the Almighty by the Tetragrammaton, which has been vocalized as "jehho-vah," though later authorities almost always translated it as "the Lord."
Now Pythagoras, a great and singularly learned man, took the four letters of the
Tetragrammaton and, arranging them as a pyramid or cone within a double
circle, derived the ten numbers of creation from them. These ten numbers
represent the principles of all things. These principles are express two
fundamental parameters of creation called unequal and equal, or active and
passive, or masculine and feminine, and expressed in numbers as Unity and
Duality, or Odd and Even. Numbers 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9 express Unity; 2, 4, 6, 8 and
10 express Duality. The uneven numbers are complete onto themeselves,
limited, and finite; odd numbers incomplete, unlimited, and infinite. The absolute

principle of all perfection is Unity, while Duality is imperfection. It is by the latter,

that forces are produced by which differentiation is perfected in the number 10,
which, as the sequel or sequence of the entire system, is regarded as a perfect
number and represents man, the synthesis of all created energy.
Kabbalah of the Tetragrammaton
The first letter Jod represents the Monad or Unity, the fountain of all things -- the
En Soph (or Kether) of the Sephiroth; the two central letters form the Dyad, the
cause of increase and division, the two properties of Light (active and passive),
Binah (Intelligence) and Hokmah (Wisdom) of the Sephiroth; the first three
letters, containing the Monad and Dyad, form the Triad, and being thus a
manifestation of En Soph constitute the Tifereth of the Sephiroth the Central Sun
of the Universe.
Finally, the four letters of the Name of God (the Tetrad) separately represent the
Hesed, Gevurah, Netsah and Hod, which are polarized into Yesod (the Astral
Suns); the product of the Monad, Dyad, Triad, and Tetrad is the.Decad. As the
sum of the four primary numbers it takes the name Tetractys, and, as the
complement of creation, becomes the perfect number 10, which, as we have
seen, represents man as the Synthesis. It encompasses, too, all musical and
arithmetical proportions, and illustrates or denotes the system of the world.
Pythagoras defines God to be "absolute Verity or Truth clothed with Light," and
the Word embodied in the Light is the power that manifests forms. Or to state it
differently: The Word is the Divine Executive, and at the same time the Revealer
of the Mysteries of the Divine Will, the "hidden things of God." Pythagoras was
one of the most remarkable men of his day; not only was he learned in the
ordinary sense beyond his time, but he was a Kabbalist of the highest order. He
is said to have been initiated into the Divine secrets of Nature by Daniel and
Ezekiel; he was subsequently, after much opposition, admitted to the Egyptian
mysteries upon the personal recommendation of King Amosis (Moses?). His
Tetractys is a fair illustration of his thorough acquaintance with Hermetic Science,
as well as of his independence of thought. He was the founder of the renowned
School of Crotona, upon the southeastern coast of Italy, about 500 B.C.
Pythagoras held that the Sun is the center of the solar system around which all
the planets revolve; that the stars are Suns like ours, each the center of a
system; that the earth revolves yearly around the Sun and daily on its axis; that
the planets are inhabited, and that they and the earth are ever revolving in
regular order, "keeping up a loud and grand celestial concert, inaudible to man,
but, as the music of the spheres, audible to God." He was never permitted to
declare publicly what he knew and believed, but taught his immediate pupils all
the wonders of his philosophy, under the most binding obligation of secrecy.
Pythagoras was forbidden to divulge this knowledge because it would reveal the
law of attraction and repulsion, which constituted one of the great secrets of the

sanctuary; Over a millennium later, Newton was led to the discovery of these
forces by his studies of the Kabbalah. Speaking of Pythagoras calls to our mind
the following singular Kabbalistic enigma written by Plato and sent to Dionysius:
"All things surround our King [God]. He is the cause of all good things, seconds
for seconds and thirds for thirds." This short statement expresses the complete
philosophy of the Sephiroth. Plato too was an earnest and most intelligent
Kabbalist.
Ten Thoughts from One Mind
While separate in their powers, the ten Sephira function as a single entity. The
group of categories or spheres has been styled the "Tree of Life," because it
exhibits the true source of life and the means for the preservation and
prolongation of life indefinitely into immortality. The Source is the Almighty Will of
God as manifested in Light and the means for the preservation and prolongation
of life is the Divine Sophia declaring itself in the beautiful Law of Harmony as
applied to the creation and sustaining of the universe. The Sephiroth, though ten
in appearance are but one in fact, are a manifestation of the Omnipotent Will in
ten aspects; just as the flame and sparks of a fire appear as several objects to
the eye and yet manifest but one fire, so the ten Sephira are apparently plural
and are actually one with the En Soph, the Endless, Ineffable, Incomprehensible
emanation from the God of Light and Life.
The Three Pillars of Truth
In the Tree of Life, the spheres range in three columns or pillars: the Central
Pillar, comprising the "Crown" (the Celestial and Astral Suns), the alchemical
Pillar of Salt, which has been called the Pillar of Hercules and more aptly the
Pillar of Life. At the right of this central one, is the Active Pillar, consisting of
Binah, Hesed, and Netsah (or Intelligence, Strength, and Firmness), which
represent the Fire principle, the alchemical Sulfur, the masculine or active forces
in creation and providence. At the left is the Passive Pillar, representing the Light
principle, the alchemical Mercury, the feminine or passive properties in creation
and providence, as expressed in Hokmah, Gevurah, and Hod (or Wisdom,
Beauty, and Splendor). The two side pillars are in exact equilibrium, the active
and passive qualities equally performing their functions. The universe came
perfect from the Creator and moves in sublime beauty and complete utility, in
undeviating accord with the Will that called it into being by the Word. And just as
long and as far as these two principles are in absolute equipoise everything must
continue "very good " in God's sight.
The Untapped Power of God's Light
This equilibrium is exactly maintained until we reach the Astral Suns, when we
find it disturbed, but it still is upheld and respected in part. When, however, we
pass to the material world we find the blackness of darkness, because God's Law

of Harmony has been broken by man, and disharmony (or alchemical Chaos)
has brought disease, decay, and death upon every species of life -- even upon
the earth the seal of doom is set. Change and dissolution are seen on all hands,
but ultimately it shall pass away.
We have seen that although God's Justice must be visited upon the world, and
sickness and suffering, disease, decay, and death must follow the breach of the
Law of Harmony, yet His Mercy and Goodness came to the rescue of the
offender and his race by providing a remedy for spiritual blindness and death.
Nor did His Infinite Kindness stop here. He has also furnished suitable remedies
for the physical ills resulting from man's fall; some of these remedial agents, like
alchemy, were long since discovered and have been successfully applied for
many years. Others have but recently been found out by science, and doubtless
there are many the health-giving properties of which man has never yet
discovered. Among those natural remedies which are only now in course of
discovery are the color spectrums of the objective light of our world, which we
believe are destined, at no very distant day, to work a sensible change in the
therapeutic practice not only of our country but of the world. Light itself will force
and win its way into a great, beneficent work among the sick and suffering.
Indeed, there seems to us a peculiar fitness in this appropriation of the Sun's
bright beams: the withdrawal of the Light of the Sun of Suns entailed sickness,
pain and death upon man, and now shall not the beams from that Sun's offspring,
the Sun of our Solar System, be placed under tribute for the relief of suffering.

Alchemy of the Afterlife:

The Ka, the Ba, and the Kabbalahh
by Jay Weidner
In the current use of our language, the words soul and spirit have essentially
the same meaning. They are terms used to describe a mysterious state of
awareness, or presence, that is the driving or animating force behind the
externalized, concrete physical body that surrounds it. According to the teachings
of the worlds major religions, this mystical soul, or spirit, somehow lives on after
death. They tell us that just as we as human beings, living in a material body,
grow and learn through linear time, so the soul, or spirit, grows in knowledge and
experience through many successive incarnations. However, there is much
evidence from the past that reveals that there may once have been a more
complex meaning to these two terms, soul and spirit. There is a distinct
possibility that they may not originally have meant the same thing at all. It may
be, that somehow in the past, these two words became confused and that their
separate meanings became lost in the well of history. In a way, this loss of

understanding between these two words soul and spirit may lie at the root of
much of our modern spiritual confusion. Perhaps it is time to re-imbue these
terms with their true historical meanings once again.
In order to understand the subtleties of these two terms with greater clarity, let us
take a look at the teachings of the rich and complex civilization of ancient Egypt.
First of all, it is important to realize that the people of ancient Egypt lived a
completely different type of existence than we do today. The ancient Egyptians
lived each day, and each life, with a complete devotion to what today we would
call the unseen world of soul and spirit that transcends our ordinary day-to-day
existence. Time, for them, was not measured by the incessant ticking of the
clock, or the hope of a secure future, but was built on a much larger concept,
which included not only their time on Earth, but the afterlife as well. In fact, their
entire culture, including their incredible edifices and their sacred science, was all
constructed around a complete understanding of the afterlife and what happens
to that animating force of human consciousness at the moment of death.
These ancient sacred scientists found that there is a great moment of confusion
at the instant when the consciousness separates from the body. Examining this
confused state, they realized that there was a division that occurred at this crucial
moment. Consciousness became divided into two separate states, or entities.
They called each of these states by a different name.
The first state in this division of consciousness was called the Ba. This is the
immortal state of existence. This is the aspect of consciousness that
reincarnates. The Ba separates from consciousness at the moment of death and
goes back into the well of souls to be reborn again. In our current lexicon, the
words soul and spirit mean, essentially the same thing. But looking at it more
closely, it can be seen that the word soul is actually referencing the BA The BA,
or the soul, never dies, it reincarnates and continues its sacred pilgrimage
towards total illumination. It has been described in religious literature as that
spark of divinity that resides within us all, the aspect of our multidimensional
being that inspires us to overcome our animal nature, to move beyond the
cravings of the small self-centered ego so as to experience an
interconnectedness with the entire universal reality. Called the breath of life, it is
that unseen force, or essence, that travels throughout eternity from body to body
on its great journey of experience, purification and enlightenment.
In the hieroglyphs or symbolic language of Egypt, the BA is written sometimes as
a winged human head and sometimes as a human-faced bird. It is the part of us
that is conscious of leaving the earth at death and therefore is depicted as a
winged human or a human bird. This bird motif will be more properly understood
in part II of this article. Suffice to say for now that bird symbol for the BA
represents the force that can free itself from the Tree of Life and soar into the
cosmos, liberated from gravity and the material realm.

The second aspect of this great separation at death was named the Ka. The kA
is the part of the human consciousness that remains here on Earth, and is
represented in the hieroglyphs as two up stretched arms in front of a horizon. It is
perceived as the ghost or psychic residue of the previous conscious being. It is
the spirit. It is the part of us that has a connection with the place that the physical
body lived, with the objects it possessed, with the people that it knew. It literally
haunts the place of its life forever. And so do all of the spirits that existed in a
place. The kA then is the aspect of consciousness that is left when the BA, or
animating force, departs the physical body. It is the shadow, or remaining psychic
imprint, of soul consciousness, or the spirit which haunts a place, that occupies
illusory heavens and hells, that may relive its own human life over and over for
eternity. Therefore, in this light it can be seen that the word spirit is actually
referencing the "kA
It was through their knowledge and understanding of the consanguinity between
the BA and the kA that the Egyptians realized the science of the afterlife and the
great relationship that exists between soul and spirit, blood and soil, between our
possessions and our spirit, between our ancestors and our own personal being.
Many philosophies, religions and spiritual teachings have spoken clearly about
the BA, including Hinduism, Buddhism and many indigenous traditions. But the
awareness and understanding of the kA has fallen by the wayside. Lost in
superstition and legend, the great Egyptian knowledge of the afterlife has
become forfeited in our modern world. Yet, there are many these days who seek
deeper knowledge of the mystic realms. It is important to once again explore the
great science of Egypt, the science of the afterlife, so that we contemporary
seekers can have the opportunity to view the meaning and import of our lives on
earth from a larger perspective.
In our exploration of this fascinating subject, it is interesting to note that recently,
many Hollywood films have begun to focus upon this mysterious aspect of
human experience, or the Ka state. Perhaps our great cultural confusion
concerning the kA is at the root of these phenomena. In fact, these films are
using the mysterious state of the kA as vital subject matter in their story lines. For
example, The Sixth Sense, which is one of the films nominated by the academy
in the year 2000 as Best Picture, is not only about a boy who can see the spirits
in their kA state occupying the world around him, but also about a man who is
living through the very beginning of his own kA existence. This man (played by
Bruce Willis) spends much of the picture confused and bewildered by what he
sees around him, that is, until he realizes that he is not alive, that he is in his kA
state. No longer alive in terms of physical reality, as a disembodied spirit, he is
playing out a dreamlike scenario in order to realize - and possibly correct -- the
mistakes he made during his life. Traveling through this illusory, but seemingly
real drama, his kA, or psychic imprint from this previous life is presented with the
opportunity to learn from these mistakes. In many spiritual traditions these
illusory landscapes are referred to as heavens and hells, which present the kA or

disembodied spirit with scenarios which allow it to realize and purify its sins or
reward it for a good life.
The movie Ghost was also about the kA state. Remember the demon spirit who
haunted the underground New York subway system? This mad ghost, this
haunted kA, was caught there in the subway system possibly forever. One gets
the idea that this mad demon committed suicide there in the subway. Now he is
condemned to reliving the incident over and over as his kA is driven insane. In
addition, like Bruce Willis' character in The Sixth Sense, the hero in Ghost,
Patrick Swayze's kA, is presented with the opportunity to make things right.
At the end of the movie American Beauty, another Best Picture nomination this
year, the Kevin Spacey character has just died. As the camera pulls away from
his neighborhood, we hear his voice on the soundtrack. It says: You know they
say that when you die you live your entire life over again. Well, what they didn't
tell you is that you live your entire life again - but that you do it for eternity. But
don't worry, you'll find out. This is about as apt a description of the basic kA
state as has ever been spoken in popular culture.
In the film What Dreams May Come, the Robin Williams character dies and goes
to a place that looks just like the beautiful paintings that he loved while he was
alive. The film reveals that the character has created his own eternity in the kA
state. Conversely, his wife later commits suicide and is banished to a hell. What
they are telling you in this film is that the dreamlike, hallucinatory experience of
your kA is based upon your own belief system and the manner in which you lived
your life. This also is a clear description of how the ancients looked at the kA
aspect of the separation of consciousness at death. Whatever life you lived here
in this existence was repeated - perhaps forever - in the kA state after the
moment of death.
In these films, the Hollywood mavens have hit a nerve in the psyches of
contemporary audiences. The celluloid dreams and illusions that they are
creating for the masses can be compared to the numerous types of experiences
that the kA may undergo. Is it possible that, by subliminally implanting these
scenarios into our collective psyches, they are both teaching us about the kA
state and subtly influencing its journey?
Let us return to the beliefs and practices of the ancient Egyptians and examine
this ephemeral kA state more closely. According to their doctrines, there are
certain keys to understanding the various aspects of the kA state. They believed
that the formation of the kA is deeply connected to the shaping, experience and
remnants of the physical form. The kA includes all of the genetic material and
characteristics of our parents and ancestors. The Egyptians knew that residue
from all of one's ancestors were sharing in the make-up of ones own personal kA
So reverence for ones ancestors, and remembering their names, was
considered essential to their practices. They believed that our ancestors kA lives

on in all of us. Their genes, successfully passed down through the many
generations, live on in each being born of their creation. All of our ancestors are
gazing through our eyes at this very moment. The ancients believed that by just
saying their names we can call them forth, with all of their wisdom and
knowledge.
They also believed that whatever objects one possesses in this life hold a part of
ones kA state as long as these objects exist. Imbued with the BA essence, which
once flowed through the physical form, they retain an energetic imprint of this
force. This is why psychics can hold a key, an article of clothing, or other type of
object in their hand and perceive many things concerning the life experience of
the person who once possessed these objects. These psychics have the
capacity to pick up the traces of this kA energy. Because of this factor, the
ancients decided, wisely, to own as few objects as possible. They did this
because they wanted to preserve their kA state in a way that they could control it
after death. It was extremely important not to have their kA spread all over the
place. Therefore, an essential part of their practices involved the proper
preservation of the kA.
In order to accomplish this task, there were important procedures that had to be
followed in the life of the person if their kA and their BA were to remain unbroken
at death. When they died, their few kA objects would be gathered together by
family and friends and placed in their grave, or tomb, with the body. The
preservation of the body through the practice of mummification was also part of
this process. The Egyptians believed that even the body itself held the kA As
long as the decay of the body could be slowed the kA would stay more whole.
When grave robbers, and western treasure hunters, broke into many of the
ancient Egyptian tombs they found exactly what has been described above. They
found the kA objects that were the possessions of the person who was interred in
the tomb. They also found the mummified remains of the persons body. There
was usually a curse put over the door to the tomb. This curse brought damnation
on anyone who would disturb the tomb. The non-disturbance of the kA objects,
and kA body, were crucial aspects of the Egyptian science of the afterlife.
Indeed, as will be revealed, the preservation of the kA, and the kA objects, in an
undisturbed state was the doorway towards a kind of immortality. The formula
went like this: in order to stop the BA from falling back into a state of
reincarnation; and to stop the kA from constantly reliving a fantasy based on the
consciousness of the life lived previously, it was necessary to preserve the kA in
an undisturbed state. This would ground the BA and prevent it from escaping
back into the realms of reincarnation. Since the ethereal link between the BA and
the kA had not severed, this allowed the BA to become an ethereal shamanic
traveler into the many realms and dimensions that invisibly surround us. This
includes, but is not limited to, planets, stars and even galaxies.

Certain rituals were designed to keep the kA inside the tomb and to make sure
that it would not be released back into the world to become a phantom or ghost.
If one were successful in accomplishing this then the BA would also be freed
from the realm of incarnation. The BA would then be able to pass into many
different realms of the afterlife at will. In Egyptian mythology it is fairly clear that
when this state was achieved it was possible for the BA to actually become a
light body, or a star in the heavens. Through the careful procedures of this
science it would allow the division of consciousness at death to be halted,
thereby gaining a certain degree of immortality.
As we have seen, the science of the ancient Egyptians was a science of the
immortality of consciousness itself. It was a science of the afterlife that promised
to preserve both the kA and the BA It contained practices and procedures that
would allow the kA state to not fall into the path of repeated fantasy states
consisting of eternally reliving the memories of the previous existence. In fact, the
ancient Egyptians - and research has shown that many other indigenous peoples
also held these beliefs - created a system that could change this strange destiny
at death. In fact, the essential transformational practices of Tibetan tantra,
including those of the Tibetan Book of the Dead, were created to lead the
individual practitioner towards these same ends.
In Egypt, this sacred science of the afterlife was focused upon two things. One
was the halting of the reincarnation process of the BA The second was the
termination of the fantastic, dream-like states of the kA This science attempted, it
appears, to reunite the essence of the kA and the BA at the moment of death in a
way so that they would not separate.
But there is more. This nearly immortal being also becomes the preserver and
cultivator of the earthly spiritual realm. He or she becomes a being that now has
a capacity to influence events and situations here on Earth, to assist in bringing
all beings into a higher spiritual awareness.
In order accomplish this sacred task, the manner in which an individual lived his
or her life was of vital importance. Thus, the ancient Egyptians believed that
every interaction, judgment and impulse that occurred in ones life had a small
part of ones kA involved. Since they believed that existence is eternal and that
development continues even after death of the body, they knew that whatever
happened here would mirror itself in the afterlife. This is a concept very close to
the eastern philosophy of karma. And so, the Egyptians were very careful with
whom they interacted, became friends with, had sex, and made business deals.
The point was to live lives of virtue and integrity, not allowing their own personal
kA to get stained with negative experiences in this life. Hours of quiet meditation
and contemplation upon the fundamental meaning of existence and relationship
to the world around them would seem to have been the pattern of their lives. For
it was understood that this type of lifestyle would lead to the development and

genuine experience of the higher spiritual attributes of truth, insight, clarity,

wisdom and compassion.
The Egyptians believed that human beings were the seeds for stars. It was
believed that human beings were walking, talking, thinking, conscious starstuff.
And indeed that is what we are. Our bodies are made from interstellar dust,
which is the remains of ancient dead stars, cosmic debris and galactic particles.
Throughout the course of our history on this planet, dust and water miraculously
created animated star matter.
Therefore, the navigation of the many realms in the after life was another
essential component of the rituals and practices of the ancient Egyptian
priests/scientists. They discovered that even when all of the proper care and
rituals were performed, there was still much confusion at the moment of death on
the part of the separated and disconnected kA and BA The BA, freed from the
cycle of incarnation, still did not know the way through the many faceted, and
difficult to understand, realms of the after life. The astral playground was too
complex and confusing to comprehend without some kind of map, without some
kind of guide that one could learn during their conscious existence as a human
being.
Using meditations, shamanic substances and sacred rituals, these ancient
priests/scientists traveled the shamanic pathways that exist in the higher realms
that surround us like an invisible net. Achieving a state of what is now called a
near death experience, these ancient shamans pierced through the misty
curtain of the astral realm. They began to create a hygiene, or a proper set of
rituals, that allowed them to navigate the infinite worlds of the after life.
As these many shamanic voyages were catalogued and compared, a system
began to be built that would allow the shaman, and the person experiencing
death, to better understand what was happening and where to go in the afterlife.
They called their map the Tree of Life. The purpose of this tree was to help the
kA and BA, now united at death, to be able to travel the astral highways. The
profound significance this symbolic map will be explored in Part II of this article.
In addition, this science may be what is behind the many ancient ley lines that
mark the surface of our planet. These lines have been recorded all over the
planet. From England and Ireland, to the Steppes. Ley lines have been found
running over the tops of 18000-foot mountains in the Andes. They are usually
perfectly straight. Their significance has been unknown for many years. It has
been speculated that they are runways for UFOs or that they are ancient
highways. According to the work of Paul Devereuax, they are actually ancient
shamanic pathways. These are shamanic spirit paths that allow fully realized
soul-spirits to take off and land, so to speak, into the other realms. This is why
the shamans of old always were buried on the ley lines. In this way, their kA was
preserved in a sacred spot. In Europe, the shamanic tradition called for the kings

and priests to be buried under flowing creeks and rivers. They would damn the
river and create a water by-pass. Then they would bury the body in the flow of
the water and release the flow again. This preserved the body so that it would not
be found and it was preserved in a natural ley line, which is what rivers and
streams are in this tradition. Like Indra's net from the Hindu tradition, the ley lines
were reflected in the night sky as the paths between the many stars. For those
who could read the sacred language that linked the microcosm with the
macrocosm, the earth with the larger universe, outcroppings of rock, groves of
trees, creeks and streams all became the earthly representations of the stars and
planets. For these adepts, when one walked the earth they were not only tracing
the psychic waves and patterns of the land, but also transcending this realm and
walking among the stars. The aborigines in Australia believed that the stones
sang the song of the stars themselves. If one listened closely they could hear the
music of the spheres.
The planet we live and walk upon is filled with the numinous residue of countless
amounts of kA spirit. The dirt itself is made up of the dead bodies of plants,
animals and humans. Each has endowed the soil with its kA. The food we eat is
grown in dirt that contains the remains of numerous life forms that existed in the
past. Each retains a charge in that soil, and it too is added to the food we eat and
the water we drink. This is the reason why in some Tibetan Buddhist practices,
mantras are spoken prior to the consumption of meat. It is believed that if the
consumer is a practitioner on the path to enlightenment, that by eating the flesh
of that animal with total awareness he/she is creating a cause for its future
enlightenment. From a spiritual perspective, the awakened practitioner has linked
his own essence with the kA of the animal thus planting the seed of its own
spiritual awakening.
This endowment of kA essence into the earth is also the reason for the age-old
linking between blood and soil. Even when genocide is committed, the kA
essences of the people murdered still inhabit the land that they once occupied.
From this perspective, the Native Americans still rule the spiritual landscape of
the United States. The more that we dig up the earth and destroy the landscape
the more we destroy not only the land itself, but also the many kA spirits that
inhabit that landscape. The Hollywood film Poltergeist presents us with a clear
picture of this type of ignorant behavior. As this kA spirit escapes and is
disturbed, so shall our own spiritual future be disturbed and destroyed. The
digging up of ancient burial grounds, the opening of the sacred tombs of our
ancestors and the destruction of the ley line system will eventually contribute to a
complete lack of spiritual enlightenment.
As we increasingly lose contact with our spiritual heritage and become trapped in
the seductive prison of the concrete material world, our lives become dominated
by the dark passions of greed, arrogance, lust, anger, and violence. Blind to the
numinous world of light, harmony and beauty, we sacrifice our sacred knowledge

of the divine realms of soul and spirit, of the kA and the BA. As we trade in our
spiritual values for material gain, so shall we all become the confused and angry
ghosts that haunt the New York subway system. Lack of respect for our planet,
for the origin and custodianship of our kA, is also a lack of disrespect for our own
beings in eternity. We are creating a nightmare hell realm of our own design. In
this realm all of our kA will be deserted and abandoned, repeating meaningless
lives for eternity.
So, we see that the words soul and spirit have very different meanings. One is
the BA, the everlasting imprint of God that incarnates and reincarnates. The
other is the kA, the material and psychic manifestation of that soul here on Earth.
Like a footprint left in the sand, or the crumbling temples and monuments of our
ancestors, this kA leaves only an impression of its soul, or BA, essence behind.
In these times of shifting values, of battles between the forces of darkness and
light, it is up to us to seek out, acknowledge and learn from the wisdom of our
ancestors so that we may once more, enter and navigate the divine realms and
take our immortal place among the stars.

Jay Weidner is a film maker, lecturer and writer. He is the co-author (with
Vincent Bridges) of A Monument to the End of Time: Alchemy, Fulcanelli and the
Great Cross. Email: Goldenflower@cs.com. Website:
www.Sacredmysteries.com.

Edward Kelly and John Dee

A Scoundrel Redeemed
About the middle of the sixteenth century an English lawyer named Edward
Kelly, who was travelling in Wales, stopped for the night at an inn in a little
mountain village. He was wearing a curious cap that encircled his head and face
down to the chin. The cap was never removed and was invariably mentioned
when descriptions of him were circulated. This strange headdress served to hide
the place where his ears had been -- they had just been cut off in London as a
punishment for forgery. The innkeeper knew Kelly by the alias with which he
introduced himself (Edward Talbot), but the man recognized a person of learning.
One night, the innkeeper brought out a tattered old book. He was accustomed to
showing his customers, as a curiosity, an unintelligible old manuscript. He
showed it to Kelly, who was quite well aware of the profit sometimes to be
derived from old papers, and inquired the origin of the manuscript.
It appeared that a few years before, during the religious wars, some Protestant
soldiers had rifled the grave of a Catholic bishop, who, during his lifetime, had
been a very rich man. In the grave they found this manuscript and two ivory balls,

one red and the other white. They broke the red ball and, finding in it nothing but
a dark powder, threw it away. The manuscript and the white ball they had left
with the innkeeper in exchange for a few bottles of wine. Even as the innkeeper
was showing Kelly the manuscript, his children were playing with the white ball.
The Genius of Dr. Dee
Kelly suspected something more than met the eye and bought the manuscript
and the ball for a guinea. Kelly has an acquaintance, a Dr. John Dee, who had a
passionate interest in Hermetic science, and he went to London to see him and
showed the items to the learned man. Dee immediately realized that the
manuscript dealt with the Philosopher's Stone and with the methods of finding it,
but that it did so in a symbolical form -- the meaning of which escaped him. He
opened the white ball and found inside it a powder that was none other than the
precious projection powder of the alchemists. With its help he was able at his first
experiment -- in the presence of the astounded Kelly -- to make gold.
In fact, to describe Kelly as being astounded hardly conveys his true condition.
Most men lose their self-control under the influence of gold, for the royal metal
with its dull glitter produces an intoxication which is often more intense than that
produced by any alcohol. It increases a man's base passions, his desire for
physical gratification, avarice, and vanity -- for indeed, that opposites draw forth
each other is an aphorism in alchemy. Gripped by his powerful lust for gold, Kelly
made a pact with Dee, whose help was indispensable to him for the operation of
transmutation. Since Kelly's reputation in England was exceedingly bad -- a fact
of which his cap reminded him at every turn -- they began to travel.
The two companions, whose link was gold on whatever level it manifested, went
to Bohemia and Germany. Dee was still unable to understand the deceased
bishop's manuscript, but he knew how to use the powder. The lifestyle they kept
up and the lectures of Kelly (who boasted of being an adept and of being able to
make gold at will) created a great stir wherever they went. Soon, the Emperor
Maximilian II sent for Kelly and, with his entire court, was present at an attempted
transmutation. The Emperor immediately appointed Kelly the "Marshal of
Bohemia," but what he wanted from him was not a small quantity of projection
powder but the very secret of its production. He had Kelly watched and then
imprisoned him so that the precious secret should not be lost. Unfortunately Kelly
was unable to reveal a secret he did not know, and the stock of the magical
powder was nearly exhausted. John Dee, who had been wise enough to realize
his own ignorance and remain in obscurity, fled to England, where he sought and
received the protection of Queen Elizabeth. The manuscript on which he had
labored seems to have kept its secret until his death, for he lived the last part of
his life on a small pension given him by the queen. The arrogant Kelly killed one
of his guards in an attempt to escape and died in prison when he fell from a wall
during subsequent escape attempt.

The Three Magisteriums

While in prison, however, Kelly finally realized that the ability to make gold was
only the first stage of the alchemists' great secret. There were actually three
accomplishments or "magisteriums" to the Great Work. The second magisterium
gave alchemists the means of healing physical illnesses through the same agent
that produced transmutation. To reach this stage of the living Elixir, a higher
intelligence and a more complete disinterestedness were necessary. The third
magisterium was accessible only to a very few alchemists. Just as the molecules
of metals are transformed under great increase of temperature, so the emotional
elements in human nature undergo an increased intensity of vibrations, which
transforms them and makes them spiritual. In its third and final stage, the secret
of the Philosopher's Stone enabled a man's soul to attain unity with the divine
spirit. The laws of Nature are alike for that which is Above and for that which is
Below. Nature changes according to an ideal. Gold is the perfection of terrestrial
substances, and it is to produce gold that minerals evolve. The human body is
the model of the animal kingdom, and living forms orientate themselves in the
direction of their ideal type. The emotional substance of the soul strives, through
the filter of the senses, to transform itself into spirit and return to unity with the
divine. The movements of Nature are governed by this single law, which is
diverse in its manifestations but uniform in its essence.

Secret of the Emerald Tablet

Chapter 1: The Origin of the Emerald Tablet
The Ancient Science of Alchemy
Alchemy is the study of the Arcanum and how one can obtain it. The Arcanum,
also known as the Elixir, Powder, or Stone, is the fundamental secret of nature. It
is said to have the ability to perfect anything, to change baser metals into gold, to
cure disease, to make man whole. The search for the Arcanum began in the
darkest reaches of antiquity. Early alchemists called it Soma (the Body) in
ancient Vedic texts and concealed its properties in a colorful variety of archetypal
Gods. The Chinese called sought for it in the form of a Pill of Immortality. Later
Indian alchemists referred to it as Rasayana. It was traced back to the first day of
creation by Jewish alchemists. Greek philosophers saw it everywhere in nature,
hidden in the composition of all matter. But it was the Egyptians who made
finding it a science.
The ideas of alchemy were incorporated into all levels of Egyptian culture. It
was their practical science as well as their religion. An Egyptian sage known as
Hermes Trismegistus is said to have written thousands of books on alchemy and
other topics. Although some of his works were kept in secret by priests, many of
his manuscripts were lost when the great world library at Alexandria was burned

by Muslims and Christians. Only about forty of his alleged works have survived.
Nevertheless, he is said to authored the most important and revered document of
alchemy, the Tabula Smaragdina or Emerald Tablet.
The Emerald Tablet
The Emerald Tablet is such an important document that the entire history of
alchemy can be divided into the period before the discovery of the tablet and the
period after. Alchemical thought centered on the interpretation of the tablet for
over 2,000 years. This mysterious communication speaks directly to our inner
understanding, and the readers throughout the ages have felt compelled to
search for the deeper meaning of its precepts. The alchemists believed that the
secrets of their art were buried in its enigmatic lines.
The origin of the Emerald Tablet has been traced as far back as the biblical
Genesis, but most scholars attribute it to Hermes Trismegistus, whose name
means "Thrice Greatest Hermes" or "Ruler of the Three Worlds." In all
probability, such a person really existed, but it is now impossible to separate the
actual person from the legends that identify him with Thoth, the Egyptian god of
learning and magic, the inventor of all numbers and science, and later the god of
the Greeks, Hermes, who became the Roman god Mercury.
Albertus Magnus wrote that Alexander the Great discovered the tablet at the
tomb of Hermes in Egypt. Wilhelm Kriegsmann has related a legend that Sarah,
wife of Abraham, stumbled upon the tablet in a cave near Hebron and pried it
loose from the stiff fingers of a mummified corpse. Other sources allege that
Hermes was the son of Adam. He supposedly discovered the tablet in a cave
while traveling in Ceylon. Some say it was discovered in an underground room of
the pyramid of Cheops. Most stories describe the tablet as a green-colored stone
with raised, bas-relief lettering in an alphabet that resembled Phoenician
characters.
After extensive and painstaking research into the history of the Emerald
Tablet, I discovered that a revised Greek translation of the original text was
issued around 300 BC. This translation was performed by three groups of
Alexandrian alchemists, who were attempting to use the mysterious tablet to
unify conflicting Jewish, Greek, and Egyptian versions of alchemy. The mixing of
cultures in Alexandria caused a shattering clash of dogmas that shook alchemy
to its roots. But because these ideas were treated with such secrecy among the
ruling classes, the masses (and history) took little note of the potentially
catastrophic nature of the conflict. Even today, it is hard for us to imagine the
shattering impact this crisis of interpretation had on the world. Alchemy was
considered a gift direct from God and was the hidden foundation upon which the
world's religions and sciences were built. The truths of alchemy were a nation's
highest secrets and were revealed only to a small group of worthy priests and
philosophers.

The enlightened tone of the Emerald Tablet so effectively defused this

explosive situation, that it must have been divinely inspired. In fact, the
translation of the tablet actually preserved the esoteric basis of Western
Civilization. Although the rise of Christianity suppressed the Hermetic doctrines,
they were passed on to later generations through a variety of occult groups and
secret disciplines.
The Three Titles of the Emerald Tablet
The Emerald Tablet calls itself the "philosophy of the whole universe," and this
is perhaps its most fitting title. However, it was never the nature of alchemists to
freely divulge the importance of their work, nor to offer the uninitiated such an
obvious and tantalizing prize. The original version was probably named Tabula
Smaragdina, because it was precisely what the Latin implies: a green-colored
stone tablet. The first Greek translation and first revision probably went by that
same name.
The second revision has been called the Tabula Hermetica. More fitting
perhaps would be Tabula Aegyptia, owing to its origins. Most appropriate would
be Tabula Khemica, a term which reflects the ancient name of Egypt (kheme =
black soil of the Nile) and the roots of our own science of chemistry. The modern
name of alchemy stems from the Arabic Al-Khemi, meaning "from Egypt" or "the
Egyptian science."
The third revision came to be known as the Tabula de Operatione Solis. This
was a metaphysical interpretation that received wide acceptance and became
the driving force behind alchemy through the sixteenth century. In the present
work, the author will refer to the Emerald Tablet generally as the Tabula.
The Age of the Emerald Tablet
Unfortunately, the original Emerald Tablet has not survived or has been hidden
away for safekeeping. As I noted, a few legends trace it as far back as Genesis,
while other evidence suggests that it was written about 3000 BC, when the
Phoenicians settled on the Syrian coast. The only complete modern text is a very
early Latin translation, which exists in three versions. These three Latin versions
correspond to the three Greek language revisions of a still older translation of the
original Emerald Tablet. All three revisions were written in Alexandria, where
Greek was the common tongue. Since neither the original translation nor the
original document has survived, we have only the three revisions with which to
work.
The history of Alexandria is usually divided into two periods. The first, from 332
BC to 30 BC, is the time of the Ptolemies and the great library. The city was
founded by Alexander the Great as a center of Greek culture in Egypt. The
harbor town quickly inherited the trade of the ancient Phoenician city of Tyre and

even passed Carthage in size. The second period runs from 30 BC to 638 AD.
The city became a part of the Roman Empire during the early part of this period,
and then after 300 AD, it became a center of Christian learning. It was finally
conquered by the Arabs around 640 AD.
For our purposes, it is convenient to divide the two Alexandrian Periods into
three subdivisions, which correspond to the three revisions of the Emerald
Tablet. The First Revision was written sometime between 300 BC and 270 BC,
because it is based on ideas of the First Alexandrian School, which flourished at
that time. The Egyptian and Hellenic cultures were involved in a fruitful merging,
and this version reflects their worldview. This first version is centered on the
three states of matter of Liquid, Solid, and Air. Fire was considered the agent of
change between those states.
The Second Revision was probably written around 270 BC, because the
Alexandrian Empirical School came into power at that time. Among other things,
the Empiricists accepted Fire as a fourth state matter. By this time the city had
also become a center of Semitic scholarship and a Greek version of the Old
Testament was being translated there. Specific changes were made in the
Second Revision of the Tabula that reflected the empirical Greek and Jewish
biblical interpretations.
The Third Revision was probably conceived sometime in the period from 50
BC to 1 AD. This metaphysical evaluation suggested that non-physical processes
were involved in the transformation of the states of matter and of the base metals
into gold. It was this interpretation that allowed the rise of swindlers, puffers, and
fakes, who called themselves alchemists. But it was also with this third
interpretation that the ideas of alchemy finally took a form that could be
understood by all men, regardless of culture or religion.
It should be mentioned that a fourth interpretation originated in Alexandria
around 300 AD. It stemmed from the Neoplatonic School, which attempted to
combine Greek philosophy with Arab mysticism and combine them with the moral
doctrines of Judaism and Christianity. This rendering did not require another
revision of the Tabula, but it was the first of many dozens of personal,
philosophical, and even prophetic interpretations of the original three revisions.
With the Arab conquest of Egypt in the seventh century, Alexandrian alchemy
was passed through Arabian sources -- most notably the alchemist Geber (Jabir
Hayyan). Eventually, knowledge of the art spread to Morocco, and by the eighth
century alchemy had taken a strong hold in Spain. The three revisions of the
Emerald Tablet found their way to Europe along this same path. For the next
thousand years, alchemy was to flourish in the fertile soil of European thinkers.

MULTI-DIMENSIONAL MEDITATION (MDM)

(RELEASE AND EMBODIMENT)

by Ed Hirsch presence@gnaccess.com

THEORY
The human being is multileveled, or multidimensional. As multidimensional
beings, we are multidimensional expressions of Being. We are a multifaceted
presence, and we have what we might call an instinctive drive to be alive and
functional on all levels. As all of them are expressions of One Presence, the unity
of our life comes from all of them being permeable and open to Presence, and to
each other. That is, each level can become open and surrendered to Presence,
as well as an open expression of Presence.
Thus within One Presence, we can speak of two paths, the Ascending or
transcending path, and the Descending or manifesting path. The former is a
return to Source, to Ground, whatever it might be called; this corresponds to a
sense of release or devotion to What IS. The latter is an expansive movement,
an urge toward progression, manifestation, expression, evolution, creativity.
These are not to be confounded as opposing death and life instincts, or passivity
vs. activityalthough of course they can occur in various imbalanced modes.
Source calls to us. The way of surrender is predicated, not on some "should," but
on the fundamental Truth of Being. Whatever is, its Ground of truth is its "isness"
or "suchness," that is, its Being. When we are not distracted or preoccupied, we
can become aware of that, we rest in That. Its very obviousness calls out to us,
or reveals itself to us, and there is a natural desire or movement to return to
Source.
So too, there is a natural movement to expression. While this movement into the
world can distract us from Source, can entangle us in preoccupations that take
us away from who we really are, I think that to inherently regard this movement
as self-centered or as an evil movement away from Source is a mistake. For
essentially, the impulse to create, express, and expand arises from Source, and
is an inherent part of our nature. The way Upward polarizes or synergizes with
the way Downward as a Yin/Yang relationship, within the unity of "Tao" or Being.
Without both of these, life is incomplete. We are not here to merely negate life
and disappear into Source, and we are also not here to merely affirm life without
knowing and being alive to its Source, our essential Nature.
We might call the Ascending a more "Eastern" approach, and the Descending a
more "Western" approach. However we name them, the point here is that we
need to develop a greater sense of the whole, as polarities of a greater unity.
Each level of life involves three modes 1) abiding in, and experiencing, that
mode, in itself; 2) going inward into its essence, which opens up into the next and

subtler level; and 3) moving outward into an expressive, manifesting mode. For
example, physically, we can rest and relax in the body without doing anything; we
can sense inward into the body and open into the subtler realm of aliveness
energy; and we can use the body, move the body, express through the body, in
the world. Most of us are focused on the physical level of life, the outer form and
appearance of life. We might be more or less emotionally and mentally attuned,
but the physical serves as a "bottom line" of consensus reality. Even these three
levels are often conflicted amongst each other, and lack any harmony arising
from their common unity in a deeper reality of Being. Some people are antiintellectual, or anti-emotional, even anti-physical or anti-spiritual, often in reaction
to imbalances they have experienced. However, I feel that these only bring more
imbalance, or are limiting solutions to the larger possibilities of life.
By going inside of ourselves, we also contact the different planes or levels of the
world or reality. That is, whatever level of our own nature we experience, we can
experience the world from this level. Each experience brings a realization about
the nature of the world or reality. Going within, we contact the universal truths of
all humanity, and rather than separating or isolating us, we feel more one with
the whole. I experience this holistic or multidimensional meditation as a way of
Being in the heart. The heart is a good holistic symbol, for it variously means the
physical organ so central to our living, the emotional center that we feel in the
chest, the sense of the innermost meaning or "heart" of the matter, and the
intuitive or spiritual essence.
None of this is stated dogmatically, even though we references can be made to
many wisdom traditions that speak of such levels of reality and of the human
being. Nor is the practice that follows given in the spirit of tradition that must be
followed to the letter. Experience for yourself, and creatively shape according to
what proves true for you. This theoretical section is my way of articulating what
seems natural to me, rather than a way of trying to convince others through
clever arguments. The practice also is not given as a way of trying to
manufacture something that is not already present. It is offered as a way towards
consciously participating in a process that is already built into the universe and
ourselves.

PRACTICE
In the following meditation, we move "upward" from the grounded to the
transcendent, and then "downward" into life. The point is to surrender into the
Essential, and then, centered there, flow out dynamically and creatively from
Source. Move from level to level at your own pace. You are not really going
anywhere, but simply deepening into the Presence that is always right here. Find
a suitable posture and environment where you can be relaxed and alert. You

might wish to play suitable music, for example, but the main focus will be on the
internal environment, which is with you wherever you are.
1. Body (Physical) Close your eyes and relax your body, as you deeply sense
and breathe. Just enjoy the body in itself, not needing to do anything with it.
Experience the physical reality of your body. Take time to sense and breathe into
the organic world of muscle, bone, blood vessels, nerves, and so on, even down
to the cells and their innumerable chemical processes. Experience the physical
reality and presence of the world, the universe.
2. Energy (Energetic) As you relax into the body, you might become aware of
sensations or energies. Experience the body as energy; directly experience the
reality and presence of energylife as energy. Release the body fully into the felt
sense of aliveness energy, what we might call the "etheric" level or "etheric
presence." With each inhale, sense into the energy; with each exhale, release or
surrender into that presence. Feel that every cell of the body is surrendering and
opening to the aliveness as open energy field. You might even have the sense
that the physical is simply a material condensation of the etheric. Feel all physical
obstructions loosening and relaxing to a sense of all-pervading and radiant ease,
health, and vitality, beyond the borders of the physical body. Relax and feel into
the plane of Energy, the "etheric." Enjoy its presence for as long as you like.
3. Feeling (Emotional) As you relax into this sense of relaxed, radiant wellness
or wellbeing, you might become aware of a basic feeling pervading this field of
energy. It emerges from the sense of reverence, of harmony and unity of the
field, a deeply felt energetic connection with life. Allow the felt sense of aliveness
to totally surrender to the pervading emotional presence of deep feeling, of felt
connection, of love. Feel the aliveness energy permeated by the warmth of such
feeling. You might find that centering in the chest or heart center deepens or
grounds your experience, which becomes all-pervasive. On each inhale, feel
more deeply into this realm (sometimes called the "aura"); on each exhale,
release more deeply into it. Feel the presence of wellbeing, of love, as the inner
reality of the energy field.
4. Awareness (Mental) As you go deeper into this feeling presence, you might
become aware that it is an expression of an all-pervading field of consciousness.
Every form, sensation, or feeling is an experience, and every experience is a
content within a field of awareness or consciousness. As awareness relaxes into
its experience, it becomes aware of the presence of awareness itself. Become
aware of your field of experience as permeated by consciousness, as its inner
and subtler nature. On each inhale, become more deeply aware of this presence;
on each exhale, surrender and release more deeply into it. You might it helpful to
center or ground the experience of awareness, or witnessing, by abiding in the
center of the head, even though the field of awareness is pervasive.

5. Individuality (Essential) As you relax into this field of consciousness, you

might become aware of the presence of the Knower of this field of awareness,
the "I" that is aware or witnessing. On each inhale, experience this inmost sense
of yourself, your "I am"; on each exhale, surrender your awareness into this Self
presence. You might find it helpful to contact the Self in the point of your heart
center.
6. Being (Spiritual) Become aware of the Ground of Being as the Being of which
you are an individuation. You are a focalization of That. You might experience
this as the vast Space of which "you" are a point of focus. That point is not some
"thing" separate from Space. The point is empty; experience the Emptiness as
the innermost reality of the point, and you will open to Space. You are you, and
yet you are not other than Being. Feel the sense of "I am" surrendering into its
ground of I Amness, of Being. Rest in That, feel that everything is totally
surrendered into That.
7. Void (Transcendent) This is the realm of NonBeing, the Reality beyond all
realities and levels. It IS, but we cannot say what it is, for it is beyond all qualities
and categories. We can say that Space, Time, Mind, and Self all arise out of
That, which is the Ground of all of that. None of these are things, none is a thing
in itself, but is simply a mode or dimension of this Emptiness. If Being is the One
Thing, then this is No-Thingness. Release into This (which is also "Not This"),
utterly and unconditionally, as a way of acknowledging "its" utter and
unconditional Reality.
This is the way "upward." We do not end there, for the Source that everything
surrenders into, is itself the Creative Fount from which all flows. So now we
complete this meditation by bringing Source "down" into each level of our being.
Feel it flowing out through the individuality, the awareness, the feeling, the life
energy, the body. Experience it as a process of progressive incarnation,
"descending" through the levels of Being, as an expression of a primal Will. On
an inhale, feel the descent; on an exhale, experience a fuller incarnation or
presence in that level. Finally, experience yourself fully embodied Spirit, fully "in"
but not "of" the world. Experience yourself fully (or as fully as you can be) present
spiritually, mentally, emotionally, energetically, and physically. All the levels, from
the "highest" to the "lowest," or the "subtlest" to the "densest," are all present,
Here and Now. Sense, breathe, feel, imagine, be aware in the heart center, as a
holistic human being, in tune with all the levels of Being. Live from that, as that.

Melancholia

Interpretation of this Drawing (by John Read)

Early in the sixteenth century, the famous German artists and engravers, Albrecht Durer and
Lucas Cranach, were influenced to some extent by alchemical ideas and symbolism, but they left
no pictorial impression of an alchemist or his laboratory. Durer (1471-1528), one of the two
greatest artists Germany has ever produced, was particularly skilled in drawing on the block for
the wood-cutter and in engraving on copper with his own unsurpassed hand. In 1513 and 1514
he wrought three engravings on copper that will rank for all time among the world's select
masterpieces of this form of art. These were "The Knight " (1513), "St. Jerome in his Study"
(1514), and "Melencolia" (1514).
There is no evidence that Durer had an acquaintance with alchemy so intimate as, say, that of
Chaucer in an earlier age; nevertheless, alchemy formed an essential ingredient of the cultural
background of his times. To contemporary men of culture in general, as to the alchemist in
particular, the "Melencolia" must have appeared as a rich repository of the pictorial symbolism of
alchemy.
The Roman numeral "I" following the engraved title suggests at once that Durer had it in mind to
design and execute a series of four copper-engravings illustrating the Four Temperaments:
melancholic, phlegmatic, choleric, and sanguine. These were linked in the medieval mind with the

Four Elements of the alchemists and certain other mystical groups of four, a magical number
inherited from the early civilizations that flourished long before the time of Pythagoras.
The Four Temperaments were connected immediately with the Four Humors of the body (black
bile, phlegm, yellow bile, blood). Somewhat more remotely, they were connected with the four
outstanding colors that indicated the stages of alchemy (black, white, citrine, red). The number
four is emphasized in the magic square shown so prominently in Durer's design. This magic
square of the fourth order (i.e., containing the consecutive numbers 1,2,3,4 and adding up in
various directions to a constant sum) shows the date of the engraving (1514) in the middle cells
of the bottom row. Similar magic squares of the orders three through nine were constructed by
Durer's contemporary, Cornclius Agrippa, and assigned to Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Sol, Venus,
Mercury, and the Moon. Such squares were sometimes engraved on plates of the corresponding
metals and worn as amulets.
The rainbow, seen in the background, was the alchemist's favorite symbol for the colors that were
held to appear, in a definite sequence culminating in red (within the Vase of Hermes) during the
operations of the Great Work or in the preparation of the Philosopher's Stone. The magic square,
the compasses, the polyhedron and sphere, all reflect the Pythagorean insistence on the
importance of number and form in the Cosmos. The Pythagorean and Platonic conceptions
formed an important constituent of alchemical doctrine; further, the compasses, the balance, and
the hour-glass, with its graduated scale, are suggestive of a common alchemical dictum,
borrowed from The Wisdom of Solomon: " Thou hast ordered all things in measure and number
and weight."
The alchemical significance of the crucible requires no explanation, for this most familiar of all
pieces of alchemical apparatus was to be found in every alchemist's laboratory, den, or kitchen.
The most familiar agent used by the alchemists in their operations was fire; so much so, that the
alchemist was often called the "Child of Fire." Fire was commonly symbolized by cutting,
penetrating, or wounding implements and tools, like the saw and plane and the hammer and nails
of Durer's design. The alchemical imagination embodied archetypal Fire in another form as
Sophic Sulfur, one of the two final ingredients of the Philosopher's Stone, and occasionally shown
in the similitude of a dog.
The second ingredient, Sophic Mercury, was sometimes represented by Water ; that is to say,
"our Water" of the Hermetic Stream (or heavy water, not wetting the hands). Alternatively, this
philosophical Water was regarded as a menstruum uniting Sophic Sulfur and Sophic Mercury.
Occasionally, the seeker after the Stone is shown balancing the opposed elements, Fire and
Water, in a pair of scales, and at one time it was imagined that, in alcohol, such a combination of
irreconcilable principles had been achieved.
The seven-runged ladder is another common feature of alchemical symbolism, the rungs
representing the seven metals, the operations of alchemy, and the associated heavenly bodies.
One of the paintings of Splendor Solis (1582), for example, shows a man standing on the sixth
and seventh rungs (representing silver and gold) and gathering the golden fruit of the Philosophic
Tree, from the roots of which issues the Hermetic Stream. In the later Mutus Liber a young man,
using a stone for his pillow, is shown asleep at the foot of a ladder bearing ascending and
descending angels; this stone, upon which the biblical Jacob poured oil, was sometimes accepted
as a symbol of the Philosopher's Stone.
We now come to the central theme of Durer's "Melencolia." The alchemist's lot was such that he
was often depicted as a melancholy and frustrated being, as, for example, by Chaucer, Weiditz,
Brueghel, and Teniers. In a wider sense, melancholy was held to be an attribute of students or
seekers after knowledge. The doctrine of melancholy, moreover, is inseparable from the
Saturnine mysticism that permeates alchemy. This association, which was widely recognized in

the early sixteenth century, finds many reflections in Durer's masterpiece. One of the elements of
Saturnine mysticism is measurement, typified by the compasses, balance, and hour-glass.
The polyhedron lying beside the foot of the ladder (representing the base metal, lead) may be an
image of the Philosopher's Stone, or more immediately, of the so-called " Stone of Saturn," which
Saturn (or Kronos), "swallowed and spewed up instead of Jupiter." Saturn, who is often
represented in alchemy as an old man with an hour-glass upon his head, was addicted to
swallowing his own children; for this reason, infants, usually shown at play, enter into the
Saturnine elements of alchemy.
It is frequently stated in the esoteric writings on alchemy that once the primitive materials of the
Stone have been obtained, the rest of the operations of the Great Work are only a labor fit for
women or "child's play." This ludus puerorum (child's play) motive often comes to the surface in
sixteenth century art, as, for example, in the work of Durer's contemporary, Cranach. The infants
may be linked on the one hand with the alchemical idea of regeneration, and on the other with the
mythological story of Saturn and thus with the idea of melancholy.
For example, all three of Cranach's representations of Melancholy show infants at play. In the first
(1528), four infants are romping with a dog, a sphere and compasses being shown in the
background; in the second (1532), two of three infants are trying to lever forward a large sphere,
the third has a hoop, and there is a dog in the background; in the third (1533), fifteen infant boys
are shown at play, most of whom some are dancing and two are playing on the flute and drum.
There are also other examples in alchemy suggesting the use of music as an antidote to
melancholy. Furthermore, one of the paintings of Splendor Solis (1582) shows ten infant boys at
play, and the accompanying bath provides still another link with the Saturnine mysticism, which
was often associated with moisture or wetness. Thus Saturn, in the guise of a crippled or
wooden-legged man with a watering-pot, is sometimes shown watering the Sun Tree and Moon
Tree of the alchemists. The crippled Saturn symbolizes the slow and melancholy planet, Saturn,
and the dull and heavy metal, lead, with which the planet was associated in alchemy. Again, the
"labor fit for women" is frequently brought out in alchemical pictures of washerwomen engaged in
their humid operations. From this point of view it is interesting that Durer's design has a watery
background.
The sphere and hoop associated with Cranach's infants are suggestive also of change and
regeneration. They may perhaps be linked with that still older symbol of ancient Egypt, the
Ouroboros, the serpent biting its own tail, signifying eternity. Other alchemical conceptions closely
bound up with the sphere and hoop, and the grindstone upon which Durer's infant is sitting, are
those of the Philosopher's Egg or Vase of Hermes, and the circulation within it of the materials of
the Great Work. The bulging purse at the foot of Durer's main figure may also be likened to the
purse into which one of three winged infants is dropping coins, in the celebrated alchemical
interior of the artist Terriers; in the same painting a large soap-bubble hovering in the air is
reminiscent of the sphere in the compositions of Durer and Cranach. The rolling sphere, hoop, or
grindstone may also be connected with the famous second precept of the Emerald Tablet: "What
is Below is like that which is Above; and what is Above is like that which is Below, to accomplish
the miracles of One Thing.
Durer's brooding figure, posed in an attitude of dejection and frustration, with a sad, leaden,
downward cast, may be interpreted as an embodiment of the alchemical searcher after the
ephemeral Stone -- or, in a wider sense, as the seeker after wisdom -- in a mood of temporary
defeat. The atmosphere of lassitude and gloom is intensified by the tolling bell, the quiescent
infant, and the lean and passive hound. Despite the opening keys and the light-giving lamp,
knowledge comes, but wisdom lingers." Yet, "we fail to rise, are baffled to fight better." In the
distance, dispelling the black bat, night, shines the sun over the Saturnine Sea and if, like the
Saturnine symbols of alchemy, the winged genius of Melencolia broods with darkened face.

Nagualism and
Alchemy
by Jeff Owrey

(Email: klogw@earthlink.net. Website: www.klogw.com)

This essay explores the application of Nagualism as a tool for alchemical change. After a brief
introduction to the fundamental concepts of Nagualism, these concepts are used to examine the
appearance of alchemical principles in Chaos magic and Native American magic.

Concept of the Assemblage Point

A most useful concept for studying the epistemology of magic is the idea of the
assemblage point. This idea comes from a branch of combined Meso-American
shamanism and magic commonly known as Nagualism, and is described by
Carlos Castaneda in the numerous books in which he writes about his
encounters with the Mexican brujero, Don Juan. Nagualism views the human
being abstractly as a "luminous cocoon" of awareness and defines the
assemblage point as that location on this sphere where all the fibers of the
universe are focused by intent into our perception of the universe. Furthermore,
this location can be changed by the operation of intent. Notice that intent is the
key, operative word of this definition. Indeed, if it can ever be said that the brujero
Nagual uttered a magic word, that word would have to be "intent", for intent is the
quintessential, indefinable term in the language of Nagualism. Castaneda
describes the role of intent in the following passage from Silent Knowledge
Sorcerers, by the force of their practices and goals, refute the power of the word. They define
themselves as navigators in the sea of the unknown. For them, navigation is a practicality, and
navigation means to move from world to world, without losing sobriety, without losing strength;
and, to accomplish this feat of navigation, there cannot be procedures, or steps to be followed,
but one single abstract act that defines it all: the act of reinforcing our link with the force that
permeates the universe, a force which sorcerers call intent. Since we are alive and conscious, we
are already intimately related to intent. What we need, sorcerers say, is to make that link the
realm of our conscious acts, and that act of becoming conscious of our link with intent is another
way of defining silent knowledge.

Working together with the other three apprentices of Don Juan (Carol Tiggs,
Florinda Donner-Grau, and Tiasha Abelar), Castaneda combined all the separate
aspects of Nagual magic into a single, comprehensive discipline he has named
Tensegrity. Central to this discipline is the idea that certain, specific practices, for
strengthening and conditioning the practitioner's physical (and energy) body,
prepares the practitioner for moving the assemblage point by the operation of
intent.

Generally speaking, a movement of the assemblage point results in perceptual

changes, the intensity of which is proportional to the magnitude of that
movement. Smaller movements of the assemblage point result in alterations in
the way we perceive the universe of everyday, consensual reality (and vice
versa). A sufficiently large movement of the assemblage point results in the
perception, however brief, of a wholly new universe - a universe in which one can
"live and die". A movement that ends in a new, stable location results in the
experience of either a re-manifestation of the present universe or of the
manifestation of a whole new universe, depending on the magnitude of the
movement. The discipline of Tensegrity is intended to prepare the practitioner to
survive the rigors of the larger movement that results in perception of a new
universe. Furthermore, the discipline of Tensegrity is abstract because the
greater the movement, the more abstract the perceptual experience of the
universe that manifests. The following discussion, however, will focus on the
smaller movements of the assemblage point that may be brought about by
single-minded focus on philosophical ideas, concepts and spatial arraignments. It
is these smaller movements that are so important in preparing the aspirant for
the larger shift that results in the manifestation of a whole new universe.

Elements in Chaos Magic

Air, Earth, Fire and Water most
commonly designate the four
classical elements of magic and
philosophy. Chaos magic adopts
the tradition of the four elements
and adds a fifth, postulated
element, but changes the
nomenclature somewhat. Derived
from the physics of quantum
mechanics, the elements in Chaos
magic, are Time, Space, Mass and
Energy. The fifth element, Ether, is
postulated to represent the socalled shadow time dimension
used to account for the apparent
Figure 1. Elements of Chaos Magic.
paradoxes of quantum mechanics.
Figure 1 illustrates the pentagram
with these elements as attributes of the four vertices and the fifth element, Ether,
as an attribute of the ascendant point of the pentagram. Peter Carroll describes
this arraignment of the five Elements more fully in the following passage from
Liber Kaos
Matter can be conveniently divided for descriptive purposes into space, time, mass and
energy However, the consensus description on this world at least is conveniently
represented by the tetrahedron The four vertices represent space, time, mass and
energy, which is the description the ancients were trying to formulate with their air, water,
earth and fire analogies. When ether (or spirit) is added, a pentagram is created The

pentagram is the simplest possible map of the universe, even the Chaos from which it
phenomenizes has been omitted. The pentagram is also a symbol of magic, for it shows
ether and matter interacting

In Chaos magic operations, the Elements may be seen as alternating in position

around the pentagram depending on whether they are dominant or subordinate
in a particular working. In some operations, space and time might be dominant, in
others matter and energy. It is my hypothesis that applying alchemical principles
to the quantum mechanical manifestation of the Elements forces a change in
perceptual habits of how the Elements interrelate, and that this change results in
a beneficial shift in the assemblage point. In turn, this beneficial shift of the
assemblage point re-manifests as novel perceptions of the magical universe.

Parallels in Native American Lore

As a prelude to discussing alchemical principles in Native American magic, it is
appropriate to introduce a few correspondences to the Elements in Chaos magic.
These correspondences, summarized in table 1 below, are taken from various
schools of thought inspired by a single, unifying alchemical principle in Native
American magic. Unlike systems of correspondences that appear in other
branches of magic, the correspondences in table 1 should not in any way be
considered as set in stone. The reader should note that different Native American
tribal groups often have their own preferred arraignments for these
correspondences, especially for Color and Spirit Animal. In fact, one of the
concepts found in Native American parallels to Chaos magic is the Spinning
Medicine Wheel. As an aid in understanding this concept, the entries in the rows
of table 1 may be visualized as written ninety degrees apart on concentric rings
which may be "spun" independently of each other, as if on a pinwheel. Spinning
the rings thus provides a way of randomly deriving new permutations of the
entries in the table. One may ask what purpose is served by permuting the
elements of table 1, other than total confusion. The answer would be that
"spinning the medicine wheel" constitutes a method for forcing a change in
perception, and hence is a method for shifting in the assemblage point.

Figure 2 illustrates the unifying

alchemical principle mentioned above,
the Medicine Wheel. The Native
American magicians generally
considered achieving inner and outer
harmony by balancing all aspects of
ones being an ultimate, life goal. The
Medicine Wheel is a symbolic
representation of this balance and
harmony in all aspects of one's being.
Implicit in the symbolism of the Medicine
Wheel is the idea that each individual
aspect within the totality of one's being is
itself an infinity of aspects that must be
Figure 2. The Native American
balanced before the whole can be
Medicine Wheel.
brought into balance. In figure 2 the
smaller circle symbolizes the idea that each point on the Medicine Wheel
(representing the totality of one's being) is itself a Medicine Wheel (a totality
contained with a totality). As P.D. Ouspensky points out, the whole being is made
up of an indefinite number of individual selves, or "I"s as he calls them. The
Medicine Wheel abstracts from all these individual selves a whole made up of
only four, archetypal selves: the illuminated self, the introspective self, the
innocent self, and the wise (or knowledgeable) self. Although the whole being is
made up of a multiplicity of selves, in Native American traditions these four,
archetypal selves are thought to be the most important to re-manifest in order to
bring the whole into balance and harmony. The Native American author,
Hyemeyohsts Storm, describes this concept in the following passage from Seven
Arrows
At birth, each of us is given a particular Beginning Place within these Four Great
Directions on the Medicine Wheel. This Starting Place gives us our first way of perceiving
things, which will then be our easiest and most natural way throughout our lives. But any
person who perceives from only one of these Four Great Directions will remain just a
partial man. For example, a man who possesses only the Gift of the North will be wise.
But he will be a cold man, a man without feeling. And the man who lives only in the East
will have the clear, far sighted vision of the Eagle, but he will never be close to things.
This man will feel separated, high above life, and will never understand or believe that he
can be touched by anything. A man or woman who perceives only from the West will go
over the same thought again and again in their mind, and will always be undecided. And
if a person has only the Gift of the South, he will see everything with the eyes of a Mouse.
He will be too close to the ground and too near sighted to see anything except whatever
is right in front of him, touching his whiskers.

In order to bring oneself into greater balance and harmony using the Medicine
Wheel, one must shift one's perception of oneself. For example, if you are
naturally an innocent person of the South, then you must learn to see yourself
from the point of view of a wise person of the North. Alchemically this shift of
perception results in a movement of the assemblage point. In this case the
movement of the assemblage point is very beneficial because it results in a

stable, balanced person, much better anchored, within him or herself, than the
average person who does not know about or practice the teachings of the
Medicine Wheel.

In Conclusion
We have seen how Nagualism can be viewed as an alchemical tool for selfdevelopment and personal change. These changes are the result of shifts in
perception - of the world outside, and of all the selves clamoring within. These
shifts of perception in turn result in a gentle movement of the assemblage point
that not only prepares the individual for the crossing of the phylum implied by
much greater movements, but also, in the process, produce a much better
anchored and more stable person. Since the beginning of time, there have been
an uncountable number of methods devised for moving the assemblage point.
Yet to move the assemblage point without anchoring the individual is to cast him
or her adrift on an infinite sea. The practices of Tensegrity, the use of alchemical
principles in magic, and the teachings of the Medicine Wheel are but a few ways
to accomplish this re-manifestation without leaving the individual hopelessly
mired in an infinite universe. These few ways are not the only ways, of course,
but they are among the most superlative of ways.

Medicine Wheel Correspondences

Chaos
Element

Time

Space

Mass

Energy

Traditional
Element

Water

Air

Earth

Fire

Ritual
Implement

Cup

Sword

Disk

Wand

Compass
Point

West

East

South

North

Spirit Animal

Bear

Eagle

Mouse

Buffalo

Season

Autumn

Spring

Summer

Winter

Time of Day

Sunset

Sunrise

Noon

Midnight

Color

Black

Yellow

Green

White

Medicine
Wheel

Introspection

Illumination

Innocence

Wisdom

Race

African

Asian

Am. Indian

Caucasian

Racial Gift

Soul

Mind

Spirit

Technology

Racial
Achievement

Rhythm &
Dance

Martial Arts
& Taoism

Ecology &
Environment

Nuclear
Fusion (?)

Table 1. Some correspondences to the Elements of Chaos Magic.

References:
Peter Carroll
Liber Null & Psychonaut, 1987, Samuel Weiser.
Liber Kaos, 1992, Samuel Weiser.
Carlos Castenada
The Eagle's Gift, Simon & Schuster
The Fire from Within, Simon & Schuster
The Power of Silence, Simon & Schuster
The Art of Dreaming, Simon & Schuster
Silent Knowledge, Cleargreen, Inc
P.D. Ouspensky
The Psychology of Man's Possible Evolution, Hedgehog Press
Hyemeyohsts Storm
Seven Arrows, Ballantine Books
Song of Heyoehkah, Ballantine Books

Origins of Alchemy
Esoteric Origins | Shamanic Origins
A Look at the Cultural Birth of Alchemy
by Lynn Osburn (openi420@juno.com)

Esoteric Origins of Alchemy

Early alchemists Zosimus and Isis said alchemical knowledge came from fallen angels
sexually attracted to human women. The early Christian church fathers believed them and
claimed the angels had sinned against the orders of god. Who were these angels?
The Book of Enoch (Enoch 1), the Book of the Secrets of Enoch (Enoch 2) and the Book of
Jubilees contain more details about the fallen angels referred to in Genesis. Enoch 2 was
probably written by a Hellenistic Jew in the first century CE. Enoch 1 and the Book of Jubilees
are Jewish works of the intertestamental period written down in the second century BCE. The
information contained in them is much older than the date of these manuscripts.
Enoch was the great grandfather of Noah. Genesis 5: 22-24 says, And Enoch walked with God
after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters: And all the days
of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years: And Enoch walked with God: and he was not;
for God took him. The Books of Enoch describe how he was taken to the heavens after a tour of
the earth: The Lord spoke, Have no fear, Enoch, good man and scribe of goodness. Come hear
my voice. Go speak to the Watcher of Heaven, who have sent you to intercede for them. Tell
them: You should intercede for men, and not men for you. Why did you leave lofty, holy Heaven
to sleep with women, to defile yourselves with the daughters of men and take them as your
wives...? After Gods rhetorical admonition against his lustful yet loving angels He said to
Enoch, As for the Watcher who sent you to intercede for them, tell them: You were in Heaven
but the mysteries were not revealed to you. You knew worthless ones, and in the hardness of
your hearts you revealed these to women, and through these secrets women and men work
much evil [on] earth. Say to them, You have no peace.1[1]
After his audience with God, angels including the archangel Uriel took Enoch on journeys
through hell and heaven. From there the angel Raguel took him to the Seven Mountains in the
Northwest and the Tree of Life. Fragrant trees encircled the throne. Among them was a tree like
no other. Its fragrance was beyond all fragrance, and its leaves and blooms and wood never
withered.... Michael, the leader of the angels tells Enoch, As for this fragrant tree, no mortal is
permitted to touch it till the great judgment....2[2] Enoch was instructed by the Lord to write down
what had been revealed to him and to teach the people this wisdom. He did so in 366 books.
Scholars believe the meaning of the name Enoch stems from a variant of the Hebrew root
connoting to train, to educate.3[3]
< Bearded angels picking buds from the Tree of Life energized by Water of Life within.
Scholars have been able to verify the general historical accuracy of the Old Testament by
comparing the biblical episodes to much older parallel chronicles written in cuneiform characters
on clay tablets from the ancient Mesopotamian kingdoms of Assyria and Babylonia. The oldest of
all are from Sumer. Shumer is Land of the Watchers in Akkadian, the root semitic language
used by the Assyrians and Babylonians.

FOOTNOTES
1[1]The Book of Enoch, page 487 in THE OTHER BIBLE, ANCIENT ALTERNATIVE
SCRIPTURES, Willis Barnstone editor; Harper Collins, New York; 1984.
2[2]Idbid, page 489.
3[3]THE W ARS OF GODS AND MEN, by Zecharia Sitchin; Avon Books, New York, NY,
1985; page 115.

The Sumerian King List records all the rulers of earth back over 400,000 years.
This huge stretch of time coupled with reigns into the thousands of years has caused most
historians to reject its accuracy. However all the early rulers were gods immortals. The King
List does record the reign of Enmeduranki whose name meant ruler whose me connect Heaven
and Earth. A tablet described by W.G. Lambert tells a story similar to Enochs: Enmeduranki
[was] a prince in Sippar, beloved of Anu, Enlil and Ea. Shamash in the Bright Temple appointed
him. Shamash and Adad [took him] to the assembly [of the gods]... They showed him how to
observe oil on water, a secret of Anu, Enlil and Ea. They gave him the Divine Tablet, the kibdu
secret of Heaven and Earth... They taught him how to make calculations with numbers.4[4] Anu,
Enlil, Ea, Shamash and Adad were Sumerian gods called Anunnaki meaning those who from
Heaven to Earth came.
A tablet referred to as CBS 14061 describes an incident paralleling the Enochian marriage of
an angel to a human woman. The tablet tells of a young god named Martu who fell in love with
the daughter of the high priest of Ninab. Martu complained to his goddess mother, In my city I
have friends, they have taken wives. I have companions, they have taken wives. In my city,
unlike my friends, I have not taken a wife; I have no wife, I have no children. Martus mother
asked him if the woman he desired appreciated his gaze. Then the goddess gave her consent
to the marriage. Enlil the leader of the gods on Earth became increasingly upset over the
pollution of Anunnaki blood by these marriages and over the young Anunnaki gods becoming
more interested in freedom and idyllic life on earth than taking orders from Enlil. He said I will
destroy the Earthling whom I have created off the face of the Earth.5[5]
The peoples of ancient civilization, Sumerians, Egyptians, Akkadians, Assyrians,
Babylonians, Hittites, Hebrews etc., in their sacred writings all describe gods that physically dwelt
on earth. This was aside from their writings on philosophy and mysticism. According to the
Sumerians these gods came from the planet Nibiru, planet of the crossing; the Assyrians and
Babylonians called it Marduk, after their chief god. The Sumerians never called the Anunnaki,
gods. They were called din.gir, a two syllable word. Din meant righteous, pure, bright; gir was
a term used to describe a sharp-edged object. As an epithet for the Anunnaki dingir meant
righteous ones of the bright pointed objects.6[6]
< The Sumerian pictograph for the word looks like a two-staged rocket with a pointed capsule
at the top.
Sumerian texts break up history into two epochs divided by the great Deluge the Biblical
Flood. After the waters receded the great Anunnaki who decree the fate decided that the gods
were too lofty for mankind. The term used elu in Akkadian means exactly that: Lofty
Ones; from it comes the Babylonian, Assyrian, Hebrew, and Ugaritic El the term to which the
Greeks gave the connotation god.7[7]
Returning to Genesis chapter six, after the sons of God took human wives, verse four
continues: There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of
God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became the
mighty men which were of old, men of renown. However the King James version erroneously
translated the Hebrew term nefilim as giants, and shem as renown. If the original words are
used the verse reads: The Nefilim were upon the Earth, in those days and thereafter too, when

4[4]Idbid, page 115.

5[5]Idbid, page 117.
6[6]THE 12TH PLANET, by Zecharia Stichin; Avon Books, New York, NY; page 169.
7[7]THE WARS OF GODS AND MEN; page 196.

the sons of the gods cohabitated

with the daughters of the Adam,
and they bore children unto them.
They were the mighty ones of
Eternity the People of the
shem. Nefilim stems from the
root NFL, to be cast down.8[8]
Semitic
The first line of Genesis 6:4 means Those who were cast down were upon the Earth. They were
the fallen angels!

< From the tomb of Huy, viceroy in Nubia during the reign of Pharoah Tut-Anka-Amon
They were also the People of the shem. The Mesopotamian texts that refer to the inner
enclosures of temples, or the heavenly journeys of the gods, or even to instances where mortals
ascended to the heavens, employ the Sumerian term mu or its Semitic derivatives shumu (that
which is a mu), sham, or shem. Because the term also connoted that by which one is
remembered, the word has come to be taken as meaning name.... Like most Sumerian syllabic
words, mu had a primary meaning; in the case of mu, it was that which rises straight. Its thirtyodd nuances encompassed the meanings heights, fire, command, a counted period...9[9]

< Sumerian hunting scene awaiting arrival of rocket ship in upper half. Lower half depicts flying
chariot shuttle having landed. A god is standing by in the middle.
After Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II had rebuilt Marduks sacred precinct within fortified
walls made of fired brick and gleaming black marble, he recorded: I raised the head of the boat
ID.GE.UL the chariot of Marduks princeliness; The boat ZAG.MU.KU, whose approach is
observed, the supreme traveler between Heaven and Earth, in the midst of the pavilion I

8[8]THE 12TH PLANET; page 171.

9[9]Idbid; page 141.

enclosed, screening off its sides.

ID.GE.UL means high to heaven, bright
at night. ZAG.MU.KU means bright mu
which is for afar.10[10]
< Coin found at Byblos, ancient Canaanite-Phoenician city on the Mediterranean coast.
The Mesopotamians believed the gods were immortal. The Sumerians said one year on
planet Nibiru, a sar, was equivalent in time to 3600 earth years. They also said Anunnaki
lifespans were 120 sars which is 120 x 3600 or 432,000 years. According to the King List 120
sars had passed from the time the Anunnaki arrived on Earth to the time of the Flood. However
when the Lofty Ones came to Earth their lifespans began to sync with Earths faster orbit and they
faced rapid aging compared to that on Nibiru. Einsteins theory of General Relativity says celestial
body gravity and motion warps local space/time. They discovered that by eating food from their
home planet they could keep the aging process synced to the pace of Nibiru.
The Sumerian god of wisdom Enki (Ea) was the leader of the first sons of Anu that came down to
Earth. He played the pivotal role in saving humanity from the global Deluge. He defied the
Anunnaki ruling council and told Ziusudra (the Sumerian Noah) how to build a ship on which to
save humanity from the killing flood. Ea would have been over 120 sars old at that time, yet his
activity with humanity continued to be actively reported for thousands of years thereafter.

< Ea with gods and initiate. The Water of Life flowing into the laboratory glassware indicates
alchemical circulations.
Within his sacred precinct Mound of Creation in Eridu, Enki unraveled the secrets of life and
death. His emblem was two serpents entwined on a staff the basis for the winged caduceus
symbol used by modern Western medicine. Enki was the god who created the first humans: In
those days, in those years, The Wise One of Eridu, Ea, created him as a model of men. His
name was Adapa, Adam in the Old Testament: Elohim created the Adam in His image in the
image of Elohim created He him.11[11]
< Creation of first man by Anunnaki. Laboratory vessels and Tree of Life part of scene.
Through Enkis creative efforts wide understanding he perfected for him.... wisdom [he had
given him].... To him he had given Knowledge; Eternal Life he had not given him.12[12] Anu
wondered why did Ea, to a worthless human the plan of Heaven disclose rendering him
distinguished, making a shem for him.?13[13] Enki made him take the road to Heaven, and to
Heaven he went up. When he had ascended to Heaven he approached the Gate of Anu. Enki
had told Adapa that if Anu offered him food, he was not to eat the Bread of Life nor drink the
Water of Life because they were poison.

10[10]Idbid; page 140.

11[11]Idbid; page 352-353.
12[12]Idbid; page 371.
13[13]Idbid; page 279.

from the Tree

After
said,
What
of (eternal) life and let him eat!

< Angels, Eagles, bird-men, picking buds

of Life with Water of Life flowing within.
Adapa answered Anus questions Anu
can we do for him? Fetch him the bread

They fetched him the bread of (eternal) life, but he would not eat. They fetched him the
water of (eternal) life, but he would not drink... Anu watched him and laughed at him.
Come, Adapa, why didnt you eat? Why didnt you drink? Didnt you want to be immortal?
Alas for downtrodden people!
(But) Ea my lord told me: You mustn't eat! You mustnt drink.
Take him and send him back to his earth.14[14]
And so humanity missed out on immortality until the sons of the gods fell in love with the
daughters of men, married them and had children by them. Then not wanting their lovers to die
they taught them the secrets of immortality that Ea had discovered. Those secrets were the
secrets of alchemy. Eas youngest son was Ningizzida, Lord of the Tree of Truth, in
Mesopotamia. He was revered as Thoth in Egypt and Hermes in the West.
< Emblem of Ningizzida Eas youngest son, from King Gudea of Lagash, 2025BCE.
By the beginning of the current era philosophers had removed the physical existence of the
gods to the abstract, implying their powers were aspects of spiritual phenomena coincident to the
forces of Nature. The early alchemists of that time period still claimed like the ancient priests
before them, that the knowledge they possessed was a gift from the gods, and their pursuit of
immortality was in emulation of the gods pursuit of immortality.

Shamanic Origins of Alchemy

The first maxim of alchemy is That which is Above is like that which is Below. If the
religious and mythical origins of alchemy represent a portion of the Above, then the
anthropological record represents a portion of the Below. Historian Mircea Eliade wrote
extensively about the cultural origins of alchemy. He showed that alchemy was possibly the first
offshoot of shamanism and was connected with the origins of agriculture and especially
metallurgy. The divine smith was the ancestor of the alchemist.
The shaman/smith highly regarded stones from heaven meteorites. This celestial metal
was sacred. It was inevitable that meteorites should inspire awe. They came from some

14[14]MYTHS FROM MESOPOTAMIA, CREATION, THE FLOOD, GILGAMESH AND OTHERS,

a New Translation by Stephanie Dalley; Oxford University Press, Oxford, NY;
1989; page 178.

remote region high up in the heavens

and possessed a sacred quality
enjoyed only by things celestial....
They fall to earth charged with celestial
sanctity; in a way, they represent heaven. This would suggest why so many meteorites
were worshipped or identified with a deity....
Rock crystals, supposedly broken away from the heavenly throne, do in fact play a
special role in the shamanic initiation ceremonies of the Australian aborigines, among the
Negritos of Malacca, in North America and elsewhere. These stones of light, as they are called
by the maritime Dyaks of Sarawak, reflect everything that happens on earth.
They disclose to the shaman what has taken place in the sick mans soul and the destination
to which his soul takes flight... The shaman is he who sees, because he is endowed with a
supernatural vision. He sees just as far into space as into time. Likewise he can perceive what is
invisible to the layman spirits, gods, the soul....15[15]
< Divining a mine from Cosmographia Universalis, 1544.
A mine or an untapped vein is not easily discovered; it is for the gods and divine creatures to
reveal where they lie and to teach human beings how to exploit their contents. These beliefs
were held in European countries until quite recently. The Greek traveler Nucius Nicander, who
had visited Liege in the sixteenth century, brings back the legend of the discovery of the coal
mines of northern France and Belgium. An angel had appeared in the guise of a venerable old
man and had shown the mouth of a gallery to a smith who had until then fed his furnace with
wood.... In other traditions it is also a demigod or a civilizing hero, a divine messenger, who is the
originator of mining and metallurgy.16[16]

< Demon of a mine from Historia de Gentibus Septentrionalibius, 1555.

...The sinking of a mine or the construction of a furnace are ritual operations, often of an
astonishing primitivism. Mining rites persisted in Europe up to the end of the Middle Ages: every
sinking of a new mine was accompanied by religious ceremonies. ...One notes the desire to
appease the spirits guarding or inhabiting the mine....
Let us note in passing the animal behaviour of the ore: it is alive, it moves at will, hides,
shows sympathy or antipathy to human beings a conduct not dissimilar from that shown by
game towards its hunter.17[17]
There is above all the feeling that one is meddling with the natural order of things ruled by
some higher law and intervening in a secret and sacred process. Consequently, every precaution
is taken that is considered indispensable to the rites de passage. There is the obscure feeling

15[15]THE FORGE AND THE CRUCIBLE, THE ORIGINS AND STRUCTURES OF ALCHEMY, by
Mircea Eliade; University of Chicago Press; Chicago, IL; 1962; page, 19.
16[16]Idbid; page 53.
17[17]Idbid; page 54.

that some mystery is at stake involving human existence, for the

discovery of metals has indeed left its mark on man....
Still charged with this dread holiness the ores are conveyed to the
furnace. It is then that the most difficult and hazardous operations
begin. The artisan takes the place of the Earth-Mother and it is his task
to accelerate and perfect the growth of the ore. The furnaces are, as it
were, a new matrix, an artificial uterus where the ore completes its
gestation.18[18]

< Alchemical furnace from Geber, de Alchemia, 1529.

In 1925 R. Eisler announced a hypothesis concerning the existence of Babylonian alchemy.
This was after the publication of Assyrian chemical texts by R. Campbell Thompson. The tablets
were from king Assurbanipals great library at Nineveh. Eisler believed these texts were the
oldest historical documentation of the idea of the maturation and perfecting of metals, and they
constituted proof of the Mesopotamian origins of alchemy. His argument was based on the
interpretation of the meaning of term ku-bu in the main text. He believed ku-bu meant embryos,
divine embryos. Others translated the term as a sort of demon, and an abortion. The text
says:
When thou settest out the [ground] plan of a furnace for minerals [ku-bu], thou shalt seek
out a favorable day in a fortunate month, and thou shalt set out the [ground] plan of the furnace.
While they are making the furnace, thou shalt watch [them] and thou shalt work thyself [?] [in the
house of the furnace]: thou shalt bring in embryos [born before time]....
Thou shalt kindle a fire underneath the furnace and thou shalt put the mineral into the
furnace. The men whom thou shalt bring to be over the furnace shall cleanse themselves and
[then] thou shalt set them to be over the furnace.19[19]
In the Babylonian Epic of Creation, (Enuma elish, IV, 136, line 3) ku-bu designates the
monstrous body of Tiamat likened to a foetus, whose demiurge is preparing to shape the
world.20[20] The demiurge that shapes the world in the Epic of Creation is the god Marduk, the
eldest son of Enki.

< Marduk fighting Tiamat from Assyrian cylinder seal.

18[18]Idbid; page 56-57.

19[19]Idbid; page 71.
20[20]Idbid; page 74.

To sum up: in the symbols and rites accompanying metallurgical operations there comes into
being the idea of an active collaboration of man and nature, perhaps even the belief that man, by
his own work, is capable of superseding the processes of nature.
The act, par excellence, of the cosmogony, starting from a living primal material, was
sometimes thought of as a cosmic embryology: the body of Tiamat was, in the hands of Marduk,
a foetus. And as all creation and all construction reproduced the cosmogonic model, man, in
constructing or creating, imitated the work of the demiurge.
It was an intervention in the process of growth, an attempt to expedite maturation or to
induce the expulsion of the embryo.
It was from such ritual experiences, taken in conjunction with metallurgical and agricultural
techniques, that gradually there clearly emerged the idea that man can intervene in the cosmic
rhythm, that he can anticipate a natural outcome, precipitate a birth... That was the point of departure for the great discovery that man can take upon himself the work of Time, an idea which we
have seen clearly expressed in later Western, texts. Here too lies the basis and justification of
the alchemical operation, the opus alchymicum, which haunted the philosophic imagination for
more than two thousand years: the idea of the transmutation of man and the Cosmos by means
of the Philosophers Stone. On the mineral level of existence, the Stone was realizing this
miracle: it eliminated the interval of time which separated the present condition of an imperfect
(crude) metal from its final condition (when it would become gold). The Stone achieved
transmutation almost instantaneously: it superseded Time.21[21]
Zurvan Akarana is the Undifferentiated One from which the two, the Light, and, the Dark,
sprang. From them, the manifold arose. The ultimate supremacy of Time was linked with
Babylonian astrology. In Zurvan the opposites are contained. The spiritual embodiment for this
reconciliation of opposites was embraced by Greek and Indian thought as well.
Zurvan embodied the deeper mysteries of the Mithraic initiatic brotherhood. The initiate
progressed through seven stages of transformation symbolized by the seven coils of the serpent.
Supreme illumination is the last stage where the serpent head is congruent with the third eye of
the initiate. Zurvan has four wings on his back representing the flight of the four seasons. He has
a fiery thunderbolt on his chest which nothing can resist. This fiery bolt symbol, in exactly the
same form is usually attributed to Vajradhara Buddah who Bears the Bolt of Supreme
Illumination. Vijrayanna, the Thunderbolt Way is a bold and colorful Tantric Buddhist dicipline.
Originally the thunderbolt was the me (power) of Enki (Ea) given to his seven sages.
As Zurvan absorbed Hindu initiatic symbolism making it presentable to the West, Time
transformed Zurvan into the embodiment of Western eternity: Aion, or Chronos. The seven
stages of transformation continued. The seven metals symbolism, also used by the Mithraics,
was continued by the Initiates and applied to secret Hermetic Initiatic systems symbolized by Aion
and the Zodiac. By the time of Zosimus, Aion had become the alchemical shaman psychpomp,
Ion.

21[21]Idbid; page 75, 78.

Left: Persian Zurvan Akarana (Boundless Time) from Mithraic marble image, Italy 190 CE.
nd

rd

Right: Roman, Aion, from 2 and 3 century.

The Ouroboros
Engine that Drives Reality

The Ouroboros connects the Above with the Below.

Stylized Ouroboros in a medieval alchemy lab in Heidelberg.

The Ouroboros is the connection between man and God.

"All is One!" cries this Ouroboros from Alexandrian Egypt.

Chinese Ouroboros from Chou dynasty, 1200 BC.

Seven-segmented Aztec Ouroboros.

"The Serpent Ouroboros" from ancient Egypt.

Earthly Ouroboros from Alciato's Emblems.

Oceanic Ouroboros from Alciato's Emblems.

Paracelsus
His Youth
Auroleus Phillipus Theostratus Bombastus von Hohenheim, immortalized as
"Paracelsus," was born in 1493. He was the son of a well known physician who
was described a Grand Master of the Teutonic Order, and it was from him that
Paracelsus took his first instruction in medicine. At the age of sixteen, Paracelsus
entered the University at Basle where he applied himself to the study of alchemy,
surgery, and medicine. With the science of alchemy he was already acquainted,
having previously studied the works of Isaac Hollandus. Hollandus' writing roused
in him the ambition to cure disease by medicine superior to those available at
that time to use, for apart from his incursions into alchemy, Paracelsus is credited
with the introduction of opium and mercury into the arsenal of medicine. His
works also indicate an advanced knowledge of the science and principles of
magnetism. These are just some of the achievements that seem to justify the
praise that has been handed him in the last century. Manly Hall called him "the
precursor of chemical pharmacology and therapeutics and the most original
medical thinker of the sixteenth century."
His Travels
The Abbot Trithermius, an adept of a high order, and the instructor of the
illustrious Henry Cornelius Agrippa, was responsible for Paracelsus' initiation into
the science of alchemy. In 1516, Paracelsus was still pursuing his research in
mineralogy, medicine, surgery, and chemistry under the guidance of Sigismund
Fugger, a wealthy physician of the Basle, but the student was forced to leave the
city hurriedly after trouble with the authorities over his studies in necromancy. So,
Paracelsus started out on a nomad's life, supporting himself by astrological
predictions and occult practices of various kinds.
His wanderings took him through Germany, France, Hungary, the Netherlands,
Denmark, Sweden, and Russia. In Russia, he was taken prisoner by the Tartars
and brought before the Grand Cham at whose court he became a great favorite.
Finally, he accompanied the Cham's son on an embassy from China to
Constantinople, the city in which the supreme secret, the universal dissolvent
(the alkahest) was imparted to him by an Arabian adept. For Paracelsus, as
Manly Hall has said, gained his knowledge "not from long-coated pedagogues
but from dervishes in Constantinople, witches, gypsies, and sorcerers, who
invoked spirits and captured the rays of the celestial bodies in dew; of whom it is
said that he cured the incurable, gave sight to the blind, cleansed the leper, and
even raised the dead, and whose memory could turn aside the plague."
His Return to Europe

Paracelsus ultimately returned to Europe, passing along the Danube into Italy,
where he became an army surgeon. It was here apparently that his wonderful
cures began. In 1526, at the age of thirty-two, he re-entered Germany, and at the
university he had entered as a youth, took a professorship of physics, medicine,
and surgery. This was a position of considerable importance that was offered to
him at the insistence of Erasmus and Ecolampidus. Perhaps it was his behavior
at this time that eventually led to his nickname "the Luther of physicians," for in
his lectures he was so bold as to denounce as antiquated the revered systems of
Galen and his school, whose teachings were held to be so unalterable and
inviolable by the authorities of that time that the slightest deviation from their
teachings was regarded as nothing short of heretical. As a crowning insult he
actually burnt the works of these masters in a brass pan with sulfur and nitre!
The Hermetic Heretic
This high-handed behavior, coupled with his very original ideas, made him
countless enemies. The fact that the cures he performed with his mineral
medicines justified his teachings merely served further to antagonize the medical
faculty, infuriated at their authority and prestige being undermined by the
teachings of such a "heretic" and "usurper." Thus Paracelsus did not long retain
his professorship at Basle, but was forced once again to leave the city and take
to the road in a wanderer's life.
During the worse of his second exile, we hear of him in 1526 at Colmar and in
1530 at Nuremburg, once again in conflict with the doctors of medicine, who
denounced him as an impostor, although once again, he turned the tables on his
opponents by his successful treatment of several bad cases of elephantiasis.
which he followed up during the next ten years by a series of cures that were
amazing for that period.
In his book Paracelsus, Franz Hartmann says: "He proceeded to Machren,
Kaernthen, Krain, and Hungary, and finally to Salzburg in Austria, where he was
invited by the Prince Palatine, Duke Ernst of Bavaria, who was a great lover of
the secret art of alchemy. But Paracelsus was not destined to enjoy the rest he
so richly deserved. He died in 1541, after a short sickness, in a small room at the
White Horse Inn, and his body was buried in the graveyard of St. Sebastian. At
least one writer has suggested that his death may have been hastened by a
scuffle with assassins in the pay of the orthodox medical faculty, but there is no
actual foundation for this story.
What is odd is that not one of his biographers seems to have found anything
remarkable in the fact that at sixteen years of age, Paracelsus was already well
acquainted with alchemical literature. Even allowing for the earlier maturity of a
man in those times, he must still have been something of a phenomenon in
mental development. Certainly, few of his contemporaries either could or would
grasp his teachings, and his consequent irritation and arrogance in the face of

their stupidity and obstinacy is scarcely to be wondered at. Although he

numbered many enemies among his fellow physicians, Paracelsus also had his
disciples, and for them no praise was too high for him. He was worshipped as
their noble and beloved alchemical monarch, the "German Hermes."

Alchemy of the Paranormal

If we can see through all the mistaken identities, frauds, money-making
schemes, rampant egotism, and just plain wishful thinking, there is a
surprising core of unexpected truth that cannot be denied in a significant
number of paranormal encounters. In fact, these experiences seem to
initiate a process waiting to unfold in each of us.

What's Really Going On ?

Common, everyday people are forging contact with an independent intelligent energy that is
causing real changes in the human spirit. The amazing truth buried in the confusing variety of
paranormal phenomena is that a fundamental transformation of life on this planet is taking place
right under our noses. Whether these experiences are interpreted as alien abductions, angelic
encounters, meetings with earth spirits or departed ones, or just some weird energy is secondary
to the fact that something real is going on here, over which we have very little control. In that
respect, there is not much difference between one glowing apparition and another, whether it be
a pulsating UFO, a shining angel, a shimmering ghost, a vision of the Virgin Mary, or for that
matter, an alien standing in a shaft of light at the foot of your bed.
There have been cases of bug-eyed aliens transforming into dark hooded figures in front of
multiple witnesses; eagles changing into flying saucers; balls of light in the sky that can reflect on
radar one moment and disappear in the next. These are archetypal images that have suddenly
become real. Transpersonal forces are manifesting in our lives in very intrusive and very real
ways.

EHEs: A New Way of Looking At Paranormal Phenomena

"Exceptional Human Experiences" is a term coined by parapsychologist Rhea White for a broad
category of experiences that includes encounters with angels, ghosts, nature spirits, UFOs,
sacred sites, unknown energies, as well as mystical states, extrasensory perceptions, unusual
dream states, near-death and out-of-body experiences. That seems like a lot of very different and
very unusual phenomena, yet, what researchers are finding is that all these diverse experiences
have certain underlying similarities. And that means were getting closer to finding answers for
questions like what is the nature of the paranormal experience? Is it taking place in real space or
just in our minds? What kind of people have these experiences? How can we train ourselves to
experience the paranormal? What does the experience mean to us as a species?
You might say that all genuine paranormal phenomena are variations on just one theme: the
existence of another side to our experience, well beyond our petty egos, an archetypal
background of hypercognitive forces, which we have been trained to ignore, both individually, as

were growing up, and as a species, as we develop more controlling social systems. And the
more we ignore it, the more the powers of the Other Side press into our consciousness.
The EHE viewpoint is like the Unified Field Theory of parapsychology because it ties together all
types of paranormal phenomena. And were learning some truly amazing things that have
repercussions in such diverse disciplines as anthropology, sociology, religion, psychiatry, and
even quantum physics. We are starting to view all these EHEs as part of a single metaphenomenon that is slowly revealing another side to our existence, something unexpected.
Everyone of us is involved in this because the process takes place within the changing belief
systems of individuals. While we may not know the mechanism involved, if we look at all types of
Exceptional Human Experience, the meaning of the paranormal becomes clearer. Taken as a
whole, the paranormal experience seems to suggest that human beings are being inaugurated
into a frame of reference beyond the physical reality we take for granted. Space and time may
only be components of something that we cant yet grasp intellectually.

EHE Characteristic One: Phenomena of Light

The first characteristic common to most types of paranormal encounters is the manifestation of
light. In fact, light itself becomes the fabric of these experiences. Phenomena of Light include
glowing apparitions, luminous visions, fiery floating globes with brilliant hues, pulsating UFOs,
tunnels of light, and blinding white light. Some psychics can even direct this light and produce
mental images on photographic film, and photos of strange light patterns are found everywhere in
these experiences.
Much of this paranormal light seems to be in the invisible spectrum, and pictures of both UFOs
and ghosts have been produced using sensitive films. That light is the basis of these phenomena
should not surprise us. Science itself has determined that light is both real and unreal, particle
and wave at the same time. Light determines the relationship between energy and matter; without
2
the intermediary of light, energy and matter are the same thing (E=mc ). What is more, it is the
speed of light which sets the dimensions of our universe, and even the most hardened physicists
are starting to think of light as a kind of consciousness. Thats the thing about light. It is the basis
of both the mental world (as imagination) as well as the real world.
Of course, thats what Etheric Light has represented to shamans and mystics throughout the
ages. Whether the light reported in paranormal experiences is manifesting in mental or physical
reality or some combination of both varies between cases. But light might just be that higher level
of organization toward which we seem to be moving as a species. After all, an out-of-body
experience is just being out of this body and into a body of light. Some researchers have even
found a correlation between the intensity of the light experienced in a paranormal encounter and
the extent of the psychological and physiological changes in the observer. Were talking about
such things as curing of neuroses, lowering of blood pressure, breaking of addictions, even the
focusing of one's own healing energy.
Other researchers have discovered that the highest concentrations of LSD during that kind of trip
are in the pineal gland, that pine-cone shaped vestige of the third eye deep in the center of our
brain. It could be that the light in which we dream, our visualizations, the light of our hidden third
eye - the minds eye of the True Imagination - is the same type of light that determines our
physical reality and appears at the edge of reality in the paranormal experience. So, go towards
the light is not something you just tell dead people. It is where we are headed as humans.
EHE Characteristic Two: Dissolution of Boundaries

Another characteristic we find if we look at all classes of paranormal phenomena is that these are
ego-destroying experiences. Thats because some type of higher mind or independent
intelligence is confronted in these cases, something outside our desires and goals, something
which might have its own larger game plan. For most people, the paranormal experience is a lifechanging encounter with a completely unexpected level of superconsciousness. There is a
Dissolution of Boundaries - not just between people and events, time and space, mind and matter
- but within the personality of the individual. Our belief systems crumble and all those neat little
mental compartments we create suddenly collapse. Mental boundaries merge.
This merging, this Dissolution of Boundaries, affects our mental constructs, our belief systems,
which filter and constrict our view of reality. In order to fully confront the paranormal, we have to
abandon belief systems and allow anything to happen. Sometimes the light from Other Side is
enough to blow away our egocentric preconceptions. LSD, psilocybin, and other psychotropic
drugs open new states of consciousness because they chemically dismantle these frames of
reference we have so carefully built up. (Alchemists called this process of destruction of ego
"Calcination.") Hypnosis also works by temporarily altering our belief systems. Another way, is to
try to trick the mind into accepting new possibilities. In all these instances, we are shown in some
unequivocal way that there is something besides ourselves at work in the world. In this state of
consciousness, we become aware of the true thoughts and feelings of others without speaking,
thoughts themselves become actions, and the five senses become heightened and intermixed in
strange ways. People report things like smelling colors, seeing music, feeling odors, touching
light.
EHE Characteristic Three: An Independent Intelligence
The existence of an "outside" or "higher" intelligence is the third characteristic of paranormal
encounters. Some type of independent or outside mind or higher intelligence is sensed in these
cases, something beyond our desires and goals, something that seems to have its own game
plan that may well lie outside our understanding. For most experiencers, the paranormal
experience is a life-changing encounter with a level of superconsciousness (that brilliant light
again), that at least sometimes, has physical reality. In all likelihood, were experiencing
something in the same continuum of reality as us, but its reflecting that reality in a different way.
Our own minds constantly filter our experiences, constantly interpret what is happening to us.
When we encounter something that is so totally alien, so totally outside our beliefs in what is
possible, we default to the mythological stratum deep within us, what Jung called the Collective
Unconscious. There, at the archetypal (or quantum) level of mind, the experience takes on
meaning for us in the form of a ghost from our past, a UFO from our future, or some other beastie
from our unconscious. Within seconds, our minds transform something from outside our level of
reality into something that makes sense to us at the deepest layers of our psyche. At such
moments, we default to our deepest metaprograms, as John Lilly called them.
How we interpret the experience depends a lot on the state of our own souls - where we stand in
our personal evolution. In other words, we get the paranormal experience we deserve, and that
experience enlarges, enhances, accelerates what is already there. Some experiencers confront a
terrifying void, the tabula rasa of their own being, while others end up in some hellish scenario,
fighting off threatening embodiments of their own guilt or anger. Some come away from the
experience convinced that time and space do not exist and not wanting to return to earth at all.
Once our consciousness reaches a new level, as were slowly tricked into realizing what we
should have known all along, we just might find a new way of being.
At the same time, there can be no doubt that our own minds and emotions play a role in these
manifestations. Both ghosts and UFOs have appeared to credible groups of people who sought to
consciously create them. It truly seems as if our minds or imaginations can connect with a
wavelike force that can affect both matter and causality.

Scientific Proof of Mind Over Matter

The ways in which mind affects matter and causality are generally known as psychokinetic (PK)
effects. There are a number of experiments in which psychokinetic mediums affect quantum
probabilities, and the results confirm several theories, most strikingly the central role of the
observer, in other words consciousness, in creating reality. In quantum physics, it takes the
conscious observation of a mind for an event to take place. Without mind there just is no reality at
the subatomic level, and it is probably here where paranormal events first begin to manifest.
Physicist Helmut Schmidt has been at the forefront of this type of research. He has demonstrated
the reality of paranormal forces by documenting subjects changing the rate of radioactive decay
of certain elements. Now, that's a significant feat. If radioactive decay wasn't such a very precise
and unalterable phenomenon we wouldn't have a problem with nuclear waste. Schmidt also set
up a number of other experiments in which PK affects quantum probabilities. In these
experiments with micro-PK, as it's called, it has been shown that there is very little difference
between precognition and psychokinetically affecting outcomes. In fact, the most amazing tests
suggest that paranormal events take place outside of time.
Using a quantum random number generator, the most random event maker we know of, Schmidt
recorded stereo cassettes of a series of binary clicks delivered to either the right or left ear.
Because it was nearly perfectly random, the overall result was 50% in one ear and 50% in the
other. He made copies of those cassettes, automatically without anyone hearing them, and
locked away the originals in a vault. Then he asked volunteers to take the copies home and listen
to them, trying to get more clicks to sound in one ear than the other. The experiments were a
confounding success. People were able to produce very high deviations from chance. At first
Schmidt thought the subjects were altering only the copies, either psychokinetically or by
cheating, but when he compared copies to the originals in the vault, he found that they were the
same. In other words, it seemed that PK could work backward in time. A subject's conscious
efforts today affected the operation of the quantum random number generator yesterday.
These results have been duplicated scores of times using computer disks, programmable
memory chips, and other recording mediums. They show that in any truly random process,
psychokinesis can be a major factor. The results also confirm several quantum mechanical
theories, most strikingly the central role of the observer, in other words consciousness, in creating
reality. Recording of quantum events by machines is not enough to make such events real. It
takes the conscious observation of a mind for an event to take place. or in the words of
physicists: for a state-vector collapse to take place in the quantum field. Without mind there just is
no reality at this level.
Trickery and the Paranormal
The guardian at the border between everyday reality and the Other Side was called Hermes by
the Greeks. He was the God of the Alchemists, a notorious trickster god, whose handiwork shows
up in many paranormal encounters. Why should trickery be part of the paranormal? Because
doubt and suspicion hinder the production of psychic phenomena, and sometimes we have to be
tricked into accepting them.
Parapsychologists recognize two other factors working against these events. One is "Witness
Inhibition," the reaction of fear, shock and denial when one actually sees a paranormal event.
Deep inside few of us really want to confront a ghost, UFO, levitating objects, or some kind of
other spooky poltergeist effect. The other hindrance to spontaneous paranormal activity is called
"Ownership Resistance." That's the fear that we might ourselves in some way actually be
responsible for the phenomena. We just can't take that pressure. Our egos collapse entirely or
balloon up and we start thinking we're the Chosen Ones.

On the other hand, expectation, the firm belief that something's about to happen, facilitates the
production of paranormal events. That's why seances work, because everyone gathers in
expectation and are able to avoid any responsibility by directing their requests to the table or
some discarnate entity. Thats why the rumor of UFOs can cause a whole flap of genuine
sightings. In fact, if we have this sense of expectation and have set up things so we lack direct
responsibility, it's not even necessary to have an outside presence at work.
The Russians actually incorporated trickery into their efforts to train psychokinetic mediums in the
1980s, after the discovery of Nina Kulagina. The common housewife could move all kinds of
objects by concentrating on them - from match boxes and cigar tubes to laser beams. But it was a
tremendous physical exertion. Her heart rate climbed to 240 beats per minute and her blood
sugar rose dangerously high. Eventually, she was forced by ill health to stop her demonstrations.
In any case, the Russians got to study her for twenty years. They filmed her, poked her, probed
her, x-rayed her, and exposed her to powerful electromagnetic fields, and were totally convinced
she was genuine. Before long, the Russians were envisioning a whole army of Kulaginas.
One program that produced many successes was under the direction of physicist Victor
Adamenko. He began by teaching volunteers to move Styrofoam cups and packing peanuts on
top of a Plexiglas table using common electrostatic effects. They'd rub their hands on wool
sweaters then as they brought their hands near the Styrofoam objects, the objects would dance
across the table. This went on regularly over many, many sessions. Then, one day, Adamenko
would ground the subjects so that there would be no chance of electrostatic discharge. But some
of the volunteers still moved the objects and advanced to even heavier targets.
Physical phenomena have also been deliberately created in more traditional seances. In fact, in
1974, a group of eight people at the New Horizons Research Center in Toronto were able to
manifest a completely made-up entity during a series of seances. Their initial attempts to produce
effects by meditating had failed, but they found success by directing their efforts toward an
imaginary spirit they named "Philip." That relieved any of the individuals of direct responsibility.
The fictitious "spirit" began by communicating through table rapping, and within months the table
itself was levitating as well as objects placed on it. Clinical psychologist Kenneth Batcheldor had
gotten similar results with a group in Britain.
Other groups found that having a "designated cheater," someone to get the ball rolling by making
knocking sounds or hitting the table leg, sped up the process. Using stress gauges and other
instrumentation, scientists were able to differentiate fake movements and document genuine
paranormal activity. But in all these cases, within a few sessions of a dramatic event such as
levitation, the phenomena lessened as the participants started suffering from anxiety over what
was going on. For this reason, modern research into psychokinesis concentrates on smaller
phenomena that can be tightly controlled and monitored without this Witness Inhibition or
Ownership Resistance being factors.
Our own psychokinetic medium, the controversial spoonbender Uri Geller, sometimes resorted to
tricks to get people to suspend their beliefs so his powers would work. But his abilities have been
proven genuine in scores of tightly controlled scientific studies that involve metal bending,
telepathy, and even dematerialization. Today, Geller lives in Britain and is rich from using his
psychic powers to locate resources for oil and mining companies. But when he was in his
twenties, he was not above cheating if his powers failed him. Ive seen this in other cases too.
Tina Resch, the Columbus, Ohio, teenager who was the center of poltergeist activity in 1984, was
once caught tugging on a lamp cord, but she produced an amazing array of genuine PK effects in
front of dozens of reporters and under tightly controlled conditions at the Psychical Research
Institute.
Mastering the Light

Australian aborigines, the Hopis of the Third Mesa, and other indigenous peoples laugh at our
televisions, computers, cellular phones, and other devices we think so necessary. They insist that
they communicate telepathically with each other, communicate with animals, appear in different
places at once, locate water and food, know what the future holds -- all through the power of their
minds. They say we have not developed these powers because we focus outwardly and are not
connected to the One Unspeakable Thing that connects all things. To find the treasure of the
world, we must focus inwardly to change our consciousness to match that of the ground of our
being. We are attempting transmutation of consciousness whenever we perform any mindaltering ritual (prayer, fasting, drugs, extended exercise, meditation).
Basically, this type of alchemical meditation is active and not passive. We try to create what has
been called a Hermes Field, a hermetically sealed inner space where things are kept out that
need to be kept out and holding in what wants to be held in. It is desire coupled with your true
belief, the reclaiming of your power from others who have inflicted their own belief systems on
you. Like Einstein said: "It is the theory that determines what we observe." You have to break
through the comfortable and well-defined conscious dreamstate we have created for ourselves.
Paranormal consciousness can also be evoked unconsciously by the natural process of worldly
crucifixion. Eventually, we come to realize that our ideas of chance and even cause and effect are
illusions. In many ways, meditation represents a vibrational tuning process. Paranormal subjects
are energizing archetypal forces within themselves that align their energy vibration (consciously
or unconsciously) with that of a particular archetypal force. That's why it only takes the rumor of
UFOs for people to see them, because it sets up the unconscious expectation or right frequency
of mind. Some people can tune themselves into the specific "frequencies" of certain archetypes
by revealing this archetypal "Thing Itself" of every object or situation . The force essentially alters
its energy pattern to that of the person calling it and it subsequently emerges into physical reality.
We can either learn to control this or become victims of the unseen archetypal powers.
Conclusion: The Light of Consciousness
In summary, there are many paths to the Light of Consciousness. Some chew on magic
mushrooms to enter the wavelike state of mind, the psychedelic experience, but maybe just
sitting around like Buddha until we have mastered the light, works too. Some psychologists have
called it a third state of consciousness, the hypnagogic state, somewhere between waking and
sleeping, although modern psychologists realize it is much more than that, much more
meaningful than that. They have witnessed the tremendous insight of active imagination and
dreams. Shamans seek out this powerful light in vision quests, mediums call it spirit guides, some
people even merge with this light out of their bodies, and sometimes this light just takes on a
mind of its own. The the Medieval alchemists referred to this fluid, living light as Mercury, which
like Hermes, could be a trickster type intelligence or a messenger between two worlds, a liquid
light that could take on any form and mirror any image, just like elemental mercury does.
But whatever it is called, it is our connection to a higher mind and an unrecognized kind of
creative power. Most of the time that connection is just beyond our reach, just outside our control.
Those alchemists spent their lives trying to harness that power in order to perfect their souls and
transform matter itself. Tibetan monks use it to create real beings out of their own imaginations
they call "tulpas", and the gods of the ancient Greeks and Egyptians were like real people to
them. American Indians used their connection to the Other Side to assimilate animal powers and
draw upon the strength of the earth, and we, modern man, use it most often to manifest a superadvanced alien technology -- complete with all types of little green men.

Planetary Charts

(from Paracelsus)

Mercury Level Planetary Forces

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
Sun
Moon
Mars
Mercury
Jupiter Venus Saturn

Salt Level Planetary Forces

Period

Wednesda
Thursday
y

Sunday

Monday

Tuesday

Mars

Mercury

Jupiter

Venus

Sun

Moon

Mars

Venus

Saturn

Mercury

Friday

Saturday

Saturn

Sun

Moon

Mercury

Jupiter

Venus

Saturn

Sun

Moon

Mars

Mercury

Jupiter

Jupiter

Venus

Saturn

Sun

Moon

Mars

Moon

Mars

Mercury

Jupiter

Venus

Saturn

Sun

Saturn

Sun

Moon

Mars

Mercury

Jupiter

Venus

Jupiter

Venus

Saturn

Sun

Moon

Mars

Mercury

Midnight
to 3:25 am
3:26 am
to 6:51 am
6:52 am
to 10:17
am
10:18 am
to 1:42 pm
1:43 pm
to 5:08 pm
5:09 pm
to 8:34 pm
8:35 pm
to Midnight

Sulfur Level Planetary Forces (based on the hour after

sunrise)
Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday. Thursday Friday Saturday
Hour
1st
2nd
3

Sun

Moon

Mars

Mercury

Jupiter

Venus

Venus

Saturn Sun

Saturn

Moon

Mars

Mercury Jupiter

Saturn

Sun

Moon

Mercury Jupiter

Venus

Saturn Sun

Saturn Sun

Moon

Mars

Mercury Jupiter Venus

Jupiter Venus

Saturn

Sun

Moon

Mars

Mercury

rd

Mercury Jupiter Venus

th

th

th

th

th

th

Moon

10th
11

th

12

th

13

th

14

th

15

th

16

th

17

th

Mars

Mercury Jupiter

Venus

Saturn

Sun

Moon

Sun

Moon

Mercury

Jupiter

Venus

Saturn

Venus

Saturn Sun

Moon

Mars

Mercury Jupiter

Saturn

Sun

Moon

Mercury Jupiter

Venus

Saturn Sun

Saturn Sun

Moon

Mars

Mercury Jupiter Venus

Jupiter Venus

Saturn

Sun

Moon

Mars

Mercury

Mars

Mercury Jupiter Venus

Moon

Mars

Mars

Mars

Mercury Jupiter

Venus

Saturn

Sun

Moon

Sun

Moon

Mercury

Jupiter

Venus

Saturn

Venus

Saturn Sun

Moon

Mars

Mercury Jupiter

Saturn

Sun

Moon

Mercury Jupiter

Venus

Saturn Sun

Moon

Mercury Jupiter Venus

Mars

Mercury Jupiter Venus

18th
19

Mars

Mars

Moon

Mars

Mars

th

Saturn Sun

Mars

20th
21

22nd
23

Jupiter Venus

Saturn

Sun

Moon

Mars

Mercury

st

Mars

Mercury Jupiter

Venus

Saturn

Sun

Moon

Sun

Moon

Mercury

Jupiter

Venus

Saturn

Venus

Saturn Sun

Moon

Mars

Mercury Jupiter

Saturn

Sun

Moon

Mars

rd

24

th

Mercury Jupiter Venus

Mars

The Quantum State In Alchemy

by Charles Higgins
The Quantum State is the complementation of three different binary lines. As an
example, using the three binary lines, luminosity, humidity, and temperature, this
complementation produces a three-dimensional model with the binary lines now
labeled p, q and m.

Instead of four elements as in the First Complement State, the Quantum State
has eight elements. Each one of these eight elements is a complementation of
active or inactive elements from the three binary lines. The eight elements of the
example are light-dry-warm, light-dry-cold, light-moist-warm, dark-dry-warm,
dark-moist-warm, dark-dry-cold, light-moist-cold and dark-moist-cold.
The equation for this 3-dimensional model is derived in a similar manner as the
two-dimensional equation. Each element in the Quantum State is a quantum field
more simply called an octant. The order of the quantum fields (octants) used

below is a binary transformation of the most active field to the most inactive field
in accord with the expansion of the 3-dimensional binomial. The most active
quantum field is the octant with three active conditions.

In this quantum field the condition is warm, dry and light. The algebraic term is
the cross multiplication of an active element from each of the p, q, and m binary
lines.

In symbol notation, this quantum field has three bold lines positioned one above
the other just as in the two-dimensional diagram where the symbols were placed
one above the other.
There is also a special order in the placement of the symbols. In the 2dimensional diagram, the p binary line was placed above the q binary line.

In the three-dimensional model the m binary line is placed between the p and q
binary lines.

The next three quantum fields, shown above, each have two active elements and
one inactive element. The first diagram shows a condition of warm, dry and dark.
Warm and dry are the active elements of the temperature and humidity binary
lines and dark is the inactive element of the luminosity binary line. The algebraic
and symbolic term for this quantum field is

The a squared i element is the cross multiplication of the active elements of the
p and q binary lines and the inactive element of the m binary line.
The diagram shown in Fig. 2 has a condition of light, dry and cold. The algebraic
and symbolic term of this quantum field is

This a squared i product is the cross multiplication of the active elements of the
m and q binary lines and the inactive element of the p binary line.
The quantum field in Fig.3 is a condition of warm, light and moist, and its
algebraic and symbolic term is shown as

The a squared i product of this quantum field is the cross multiplication of the
inactive element of the q binary line and the active elements of the m and p

binary lines.
The next three quantum fields each have two inactive elements and one active
element from the three binary lines.

The algebraic and symbolic term for each of the three is

The eighth and last quantum field is the product of the cross multiplication of the
three inactive elements of the p, q and m binary lines.

The algebraic and symbolic notation for the eight quantum fields is shown by
their different combinations of bold and thin lines.

The diagram above also shows the algebraic summation of the eight quantum
fields. This summation can be shown by the mensional equation

and by factoring this summed equation, we arrive at the general equation for the
three-dimensional or Quantum State.

or

The cross multiplication of three additive inverse binary lines is the limit to which
we can visually comprehend a diagram represented graphically. Consequently
this three-dimensional model is called the quantum state, it is one quantum of
complementation. The alchemists referred to this structure as Ether.
The four elements of the First Complement State plus this structure and its
complementations the alchemists called the Quintessence of Matter. They
believed that all things could be explained by the five elements of the
quintessence of matter, Ether, Fire, Earth, Air and Water.

I CHING CORRELATION
From the four emblematic symbols, the eight trigrams are formed. This is true as
will be seen in the section on The Alchemist's Ether, but it is not simply by the
addition of another line to the bigrams. First, the hexagram is formed by the
addition of three emblematic symbols and then the hexagram is divided into two

trigrams for its interpretations. The eight quantum fields of the ether discussed
above correspond to the trigrams of the I Ching as shown below.

Copyright 1997 Charlie Higgins. All rights reserved.

The Alchemist's Ether

by Charles Higgins
In the previous section, the 3-dimensional model was defined as the quantum
state. This model is one quantum of complementation consisting of eight fields or
octants. It is an independent operational system. Within this model and from the
interactions of its inner elements, the alchemists believed that all things could be
explained. They called this structure Ether. It contained the three basic
dimensions of existence, length, breadth and depth. This one structure is called
an Ether Space-Datum. It occupies one position in 3-dimensional space.
Recall the alchemist's hierarchy; the Supreme Architect caused a division within
itself into two principles, and from these two principles resulted the Four
Elements; Fire, Earth, Air and Water. The four elements with the addition of
Ether, formed the Quintessence of Matter. They combined the four elements by
way of the Sulfur, Salt and Spirit (Mercury) and sought to effect the transmutation
of metals. The key phrase in this hierarchy is the definition of the Quintessence
of matter; the four elements with the addition of Ether. The meaning of this
phrase is the intermingling of the four elements within the Ether structure, i.e., the
interactions of the four elements within an ethereal space-datum produced the
Sulfur, Salt and Spirit.
To see how the four elements interact within the Ether and how the alchemists
define the Sulfur, Salt and Spirit we need to know the internal structure of an
Ethereal space-datum. The four elements are found only in 2-dimensional
systems, so we need to separate the 3-dimensional system into combinations of
2-dimensional systems. Upon inspection of the 3-dimensional system we find

there are three (3) 2-dimensional systems in operation within one 3-dimensional
Ether space-datum, the (p x q), (p x m), and (q x m).

The three 2-dimensional systems can be derived mathematically by taking the

first derivative of the 3-dimensional system.

Taking the first derivative of the 3-dimensional Ether system separates it into its
primary component parts, three 2-dimensional systems. The alchemists called
these three 2-dimensional systems interacting within the Ether the Sulfur, Salt,
and Spirit (Mercury). From Albert Pike's Morals and Dogma, the ritual of the
Degree of Elder Master [Le Vrai Macon] defines these three.

The secret knowledge of the Grand Master relates to the combination and
transmutation of different substances: whereof that you may obtain a clear idea
and proper understanding, you are to know that all matter and all material
substances are composed of combinations of three several substances,
extracted from the Four Elements, which three substances in combination are
Salt, Sulfur, and Spirit. The first of these produces Solidity, the second Softness,
and the third the Spiritual, vaporous particles. These three compound substances
work potently together; and therein consists the true process for the
transmutation of metals.
The four elements are present in each of the three 2-dimensional systems, which
means there are three sets of four elements in operation, the Sulfur set, Salt set,
and Spirit set. The alchemist's meaning of the Quintessence of Matter is the
three sets of four elements operating independently and in conjunction with each
other within the Ether structure.

Consider the following analogy. A simple automobile engine produces work. It is

a stand-alone system. If it were possible to take the first derivative of this engine,
it would reveal three major operating systems within it that are needed to
produce the work. First, it would need to have a physical assembly (motor)
capable of producing work (the Salt quality or body); second, it would need to
have fuel to power the physical assembly (the Sulfur quality or soul); and last it
would need to have spark to ignite the fuel that powers the assembly (the
Mercury quality or spirit). These three systems work independently of each other
but only when they work in conjunction with each other, with each contributing its
own special quality toward the whole does the engine produce work.
This analogy is an example of the philosophical meaning of the Sulfur, Salt, and
Mercury. It also shows the philosophical operations of the three internal 2dimensional systems of the Ether.
Within this Ethereal system, the internal components of the Sulfur, Salt, and
Mercury consist of three sets of four elements in which there are three different
types of Fire elements, three types of Earth elements, three types of Air elements

and three types of Water elements. The alchemists associated these twelve
elements with the twelve signs of the Zodiac. The Fire elements are Aires which
is of the Sulfur quality, Leo of the Salt quality and Sagittarius of the Mercury or
Spirit quality. The Earth elements are Capricorn of the Sulfur quality,Taurus of
the Salt quality and Virgo of the Mercury quality. The Air elements are Libra of
the Sulfur quality, Aquarius of the Salt quality and Gemini of the Mercury
quality. The Water elements are Cancer with the Sulfur quality, Scorpio of the
Salt quality and Pisces with the Mercury quality.

The Symbolic Diagram of the Ether

The Exclusive OR condition that applied to the 1-dimensional and 2-dimensional
symbolic diagrams applies also to the Ether's symbolic diagram. This diagram
consists of three separate positions, each of which can hold one of the twelve
elements. Each position does not have to contain different elements though, one
specific element may occupy all three positions.

From the three separate elemental positions one above the other there are six
total positions that can hold either a bold line or a thin line. This six position
structure is called a Hexagram.
If we take the general equation for the 3-dimensional Ether structure and do
successive derivatives on it until we reach the 1-dimensional state, the result will
equal the number of oppositional binaries in the symbolic diagram.

Successive derivatives of the 3-dimensional Ether system reveals six (6)

oppositional binaries in the symbolic diagram, corresponding to the diagram
shown above.
As another example, in a 4-dimensional system, taking successive derivatives of
its' equation would result in:

The 4-dimensional symbolic diagram would have twenty-four different positions

that could contain a bold line or thin line in its symbolic diagram. This diagram is
equivalent to four (4) 3-dimensional systems in operation. The 5-dimensional
system is a complemented structure of twenty (20) three dimensional systems.
Once the hexagram is formed the interpretation changes. The following section
taken from Pike's Morals and Dogma explains the division of the Ether's symbolic
diagram.
From the mixture of the four elements and of their four qualities, result the Three
Principles, Mercury, Sulfur, and Salt. These are the Philosophical, not the Vulgar.
The philosophical Mercury is a Water and a Spirit, which dissolves and
sublimates the Sun; the philosophical Sulfur, a Fire and a Soul, which mollifies
and colors it; the philosophical Salt, an Earth and a Body, which coagulates and
fixes it; and the whole is done in the bosom of Air. From these three principles
result the Four Elements duplicated, or the Grand Elements.
The hexagram, instead of being interpreted by the three positions of the Sulfur,
Salt and Mercury in the symbolic diagram, is now interpreted by properties called
Grand Elements. The Grand Elements are similar in respect to the Four
Elements except that where the Four Elements contain a p and q position one
above the other, the Grand elements contain two trigrams, one above the other,
the top position being the Grand P and the bottom position being the Grand Q.

Separating the hexagram into two trigrams creates upper and lower Grand
Positions. The Grand P and Grand Q are similar to the p and q of the Four
Elements but on a more general scale.
The trigrams that occupy the grand positions are designated as Grand Active
and Grand Inactive trigrams These are not additive inverse oppositional trigrams
but are portrayed as heaven-earth (male-female) complementary grand
functions.

The following hexagrams are examples of the alchemical duplicated elements;

the Grand Fire, Grand Air, Grand Earth and Grand Water elements.

I CHING CORRELATIONS

The first part of an I Ching hierarchy can be found in paragraph 70-71 of Section
I in James Legge's interpretation, The I Ching: Book of Changes.
In the system of the Yi there is the Grand Terminus, which produced the two I
(Elementary Forms). These two Forms produced the four Hsiang (Emblematic
Symbols); which again produced the eight Kwa (Trigrams). The eight Kwa served
to determine the good and evil (issues of events), and from this determination
there ensued the (prosecution of the) great business of life.
The two I or elemental forms, yin and yang, correspond to the active and inactive
elements of a binary line, and the four Hsiang (emblematic symbols), to the four
elements of the alchemists.
The second part of the hierarchy is shown in Appendix III, Section II, paragraph
63, which states:
The Yi is a book of wide comprehension and great scope, embracing everything.
There are in it the way of heaven, the way of man, and the way of the earth. It
then takes (the lines representing) those three Powers, and doubles them until
they amount to six. What these six lines show is simply this - the way of the three
Powers.
Paragraph 63 speaks of "... the way of the three Powers." The I Ching's Three
Powers are Heaven, Earth and Man. These three powers correspond to the
alchemist's Sulfur, Salt and Mercury. Heaven corresponds to the Sulfur property,
Earth to the Mercury property and Man to the Salt property.
The positions assigned to Heaven, Earth and Man can be found in Legge's
commentary.
In the trigram, the first line represents earth; the second, man; and the third,
heaven; in the hexagram, the first and second lines are assigned to earth; the
third and fourth, to man; and the fifth and sixth, to heaven. These are the three
Powers, and each Power has a 'Grand Extreme,' where its nature and operation
are seen in their highest ideal.
Looking at the arrangement of the lines according to Heaven, Earth and Man,
lines one and two are assigned to Earth, three and four to Man and five and six
to Heaven. The positional arrangement of the lines also parallel the position of
the lines of the alchemical arrangement.

Copyright 1997 Charlie Higgins. All rights reserved.

Mensionization In the Emerald Tablet

by Charles Higgins

The mathematics used in the manipulation of binary lines is called

Mensionization. It is a combination of symbol notation and standard
mathematics. Its name is derived from the additive inverse relationship of the
dimension. The di portion indicates a two-fold relationship and mension is a
derivative of metri, to measure. The two-fold relationship is an oppositional
binary.
The complementation of n-binary lines forms one of many functional sequences
in Mensionization. Theoretically, there is an infinite number of mensional
sequences as can be seen from the diagram of the Mensional Square.

MENSIONAL SQUARE
0-monomension
1-monomension
2-monomension
3-monomension
4-monomension
*
*
*
r-monomension

0-dimension
1-dimension
2-dimension
3-dimension
4-dimension
*
*
*
r-dimension

0-trimension
1-trimension
2-trimension
3-trimension
4-trimension
*
*
*
r-trimension

...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...

0-(n)mension
1-(n)mension
2-(n)mension
3-(n)mension
4-(n)mension
*
*
*
r-(n)mension

There is a prominent double sequence in the Mensional Square. Each horizontal

row is a sequence and each vertical column is a sequence. The specific

sequence we have been discussing is the vertical dimensional sequence
because on the surface our universe is a dimensional universe.
In the dimensional sequence, three equations have been previously defined, the
1-dimensional binary, the 2-dimensional complementation and the 3-dimensional
quantum complementation.
1-dimension
2-dimension
3-dimension

The mathematical descriptions do not stop at three dimensions, they include the
4th, 5th, 6th... on to the nth-dimension. Increasing the exponent of the previous
equation by one will give the general equation for the next higher dimension.
4-dimension
5-dimension
6-dimension
*********
n-dimension

This sequence of equations corresponds to the dimensional sequence shown in

the Mensional Square. The beginning term of this sequence is not the 1dimensional equation but the 0-dimensional equation.

0-dimension

The zero exponent equation is the mensional state. It is also a singularity. This
state was viewed by the alchemists as a vestige state. It was not material in its
nature but was the vestige entity that was the fuel for creation.
The 0-dimension entity is the prime substance referred to in Hermes' Tablet of
Emerald and referenced by the Great Extreme of the I Ching. This prime
substance is called a Mension. It is the substance of the "primordial soup" that is
in the void or abyss. It is the ONE spoken of in the texts. In the third part of the

Musaeum Hermeticum of 1625, which is an explanation of the Tablet of

Emerald, are these lines: (Brackets are mine)
The sage [Hermes] tells us that all things were created, and are still generated,
from one substance and consist of the same elementary material; and in this first
substance God has appointed the four elements, which represent a common
material into which to resolve all things.
Also from Hortulanus commentary on the Emerald Tablet:
And as all things have proceeded from one, by the meditation of one. Heere
giveth here an example, saying: as all things came from one, to wit, a confused
Globe, or masse, by meditation, that is the cogitation and creation of one, that is
the omnipotent God: So all thing have sprung, that is, come out from this one
thing that is, one confused lump, by Adaptation, that is by the sole
commandment of God, and miracle. So our Stone is borne, and come out of one
confused mass, containing in it the four Elements, which is created of God, and
by his sole miracle our stone is borne.
These excerpts are only two in hundreds of alchemical documents that propose
everything that exists is composed of ONE basic primal substance. When the
Universal Cause contracted itself and formed the universe, this primal substance
was drawn from the void or infinite source and transformed into matter. All matter
and material things are created from the Mension.
The transformation from one dimensional state to another dimensional state can
be explained by the use of the two mathematical tools, integration and
differentiation. Integration and differentiation are two of the more versatile tools in
mathematics. Their use in mensionization is somewhat different than usual. In
mensionization, integration and differentiation are primarily used as inversing
tools. Integration is a tool that performs a complementation between dimensional
entities and differentiation is a tool that will uncomplement a specific
complementation into its component parts.
For example, the equation for the 2-dimensional complementation was defined
as:

Taking the first derivative of this equation separates it into its component parts.

or

Differentiation has separated this 2-dimensional complementation into its

component parts in which the components are two 1-dimensional binaries. It has
uncomplemented this complementation. This separation shown graphically is:

The first derivative of this complementation is not the derivative of the active and
inactive elements, it is the derivative of the complementation of two binary lines.
Integration of two 1-dimensional binary lines will produce a 2-dimensional
complementation whose elements are cross multiplication products of the active
and inactive 1-dimensional elements.

or

The integration process is shown graphically below.

The 0-dimension equation or Mension was previously defined as a vestige

substance. The alchemists believed that this entity was the fuel for creation. The
void, they believed, was an infinite sea of vestige entities (primordial soup) from
which all things were created. Integration of a Mension (a singularity element
from the primordial soup) will transform it from an inanimate vestige state to a 1dimensional binary state.

or

This transformation is a transformation from the latent to the actual.

Copyright 1997 Charlie Higgins. All rights reserved.

Attention, Intention, and Will in Quantum Physics

by Henry P. Stapp (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, University of California)

Abstract
How is mind related to matter? This ancient question in philosophy is rapidly becoming a core
problem in science, perhaps the most important of all because it probes the essential nature of
man himself. The origin of the problem is a conflict between the mechanical conception of human
beings that arises from the precepts of classical physical theory and the very different idea that
arises from our intuition: the former reduces each of us to an automaton, while the latter allows
our thoughts to guide our actions.
The dominant contemporary approaches to the problem attempt to resolve this conflict by clinging
to the classical concepts, and trying to explain away our misleading intuition. But a detailed
argument given here shows why, in a scientific approach to this problem, it is necessary to use
the more basic principles of quantum physics, which bring the observer into the dynamics, rather
than to accept classical precepts that are profoundly incorrect precisely at the crucial point of the
role of human consciousness in the dynamics of human brains. Adherence to the quantum
principles yields a dynamical theory of the mind/brain/body system that is in close accord with our
intuitive idea of what we are. In particular, the need for a self-observing quantum system to pose
certain questions creates a causal opening that allows mind/brain dynamics to have three
distinguishable but interlocked causal processes, one micro-local, one stochastic, and the third
experiential. Passing to the classical limit in which the critical difference between zero and the
finite actual value of Planck's constant is ignored not only eliminates the chemical processes that
are absolutely crucial to the functioning of actual brains, it simultaneously blinds the resulting
theoretical construct to the physical fine structure wherein the effect of mind on matter lies: the
use of this limit in this context is totally unjustified from a physics perspective.
Shifting the Paradigm
A controversy is raging today about the power of our minds. Intuitively we know that our
conscious thoughts can guide our actions. Yet the chief philosophies of our time proclaim, in the
name of science, that we are mechanical systems governed, fundamentally, entirely by
impersonal laws that operate at the level of our microscopic constituents.
The question of the nature of the relationship between conscious thoughts and physical actions is
called the mind-body problem. Old as philosophy itself it was brought to its present form by the
rise, during the seventeenth century, of what is called `modern science'. The ideas of Galileo
Galilei, Rene Descartes, and Isaac Newton created a magnificent edifice known as classical
physical theory, which was completed by the work of James Clerk Maxwell and Albert Einstein.
The central idea is that the physical universe is composed of ``material'' parts that are localizable
in tiny regions, and that all motion of matter is completely determined by matter alone, via local
universal laws. This "local" character of the laws is crucial. It means that each tiny localized part
responds only to the states of its immediate neighbors: each local part `feels'' or ``knows about''
nothing outside its immediate microscopic neighborhood. Thus the evolution of the physical
universe, and of every system within the physical universe, is governed by a vast collection of
local processes, each of which is `myopic' in the sense that it `sees' only its immediate neighbors.
The problem is that if this causal structure indeed holds then there is no need for our human
feelings and knowings. These experiential qualities clearly correspond to large-scale properties of
our brains. But if the entire causal process is already completely determined by the `myopic'
process postulated by classical physical theory, then there is nothing for any unified graspings of
large-scale properties to do. Indeed, there is nothing that they {can} do that is not already done by
the myopic processes. Our conscious thoughts thus become prisoners of impersonal microscopic
processes: we are, according to this ``scientific'' view, mechanical robots, with a mysterious
dangling appendage, a stream of conscious thoughts that can grasp large-scale properties as
wholes, but exert, as a consequence of these graspings, nothing not done already by the
microscopic constituents.

The enormous empirical success of classical physical theory during the eighteenth and
nineteenth centuries has led many twentieth-century philosophers to believe that the problem with
consciousness is how to explain it away: how to discredit our misleading intuition by identifying it
as product of human confusion, rather than recognizing the physical effects of consciousness as
a physical problem that needs to be answered in dynamical terms. That strategy of evasion is, to
be sure, about the only course available within the strictures imposed by classical physical theory.
Detailed proposals abound for how to deal with this problem created by adoption of the classicalphysics world view. The influential philosopher Daniel Dennett (1994, p.237) claims that our
normal intuition about consciousness is ``like a benign user illusion'' or ``a metaphorical byproduct of the way our brains do their approximating work''. Eliminative materialists such as
Richard Rorty (1979) hold that mental phenomena, such as conscious experiences, simply do not
exist. Proponents of the popular `Identity Theory of Mind' grant that conscious experiences do
exist, but claim each experience to be {\it identical} to some brain process. Epiphenomenal
dualists hold that our conscious experiences do exist, and are not identical to material processes,
but have no effect on anything we do: they are epiphenomenal. Dennett (1994, p.237) described
the recurring idea that pushed him to his counter-intuitive conclusion: ``a brain was always going
to do what it was caused to do by local mechanical disturbances.'' This passage lays bare the
underlying presumption behind his own theorizing, and undoubtedly behind the theorizing of most
non-physicists who ponder this matter, namely the presumptive essential correctness of the idea
of the physical world foisted upon us by the assumptions of classical physical theory.
It has become now widely appreciated that assimilation by the general public of this ``scientific''
view, according to which each human being is basically a mechanical robot, is likely to have a
significant and corrosive impact on the moral fabric of society. Dennett speaks of the Spectre of
Creeping Exculpation: recognition of the growing tendency of people to exonerate themselves by
arguing that it is not ``I'' who is at fault, but some mechanical process within: ``my genes made
me do it''; or ``my high blood-sugar content made me do it.'' [Recall the infamous ``Twinkie
Defense'' that got Dan White off with five years for murdering San Francisco Mayor George
Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk.]
Steven Pinker (1997, p.55) also defends a classical-type conception of the brain, and, like
Dennett, recognizes the important need to reconcile the science-based idea of causation with a
rational conception of personal responsibility. His solution is to regard science and ethics as two
self-contained systems: ``Science and morality are separate spheres of reasoning. Only by
recognizing them as separate can we have them both.'' And ``The cloistering of scientific and
moral reasoning also lies behind my recurring metaphor of the mind as machine, of people as
robots.'' But he then decries ``the doctrines of postmodernism, poststructuralism, and
deconstructionism, according to which objectivity is impossible, meaning is self-contradictory, and
reality is socially constructed.'' Yet are not the ideas he decries a product of the contradiction he
embraces? Self-contradiction is a bad seed that bears relativism as its evil fruit.
The current welter of conflicting opinion about the mind-brain connection suggests that a
paradigm shift is looming. But it will require a major foundational shift. For powerful thinkers have,
for three centuries, been attacking this problem from every angle within the bounds defined by the
precepts of classical physical theory, and no consensus has emerged.
Two related developments of great potential importance are now occurring. On the experimental
side, there is an explosive proliferation of empirical studies of the relations between a subject's
brain process --- as revealed by instrumental probes of diverse kinds --- and the experiences he
reports. On the theoretical side, there is a growing group of physicists who believe almost all
thinking on this issue during the past few centuries to be logically unsound, because it is based
implicitly on the precepts of classical physical theory, which are now known to be fundamentally
incorrect. Contemporary physical theory differs profoundly from classical physical theory precisely
on the nature of the dynamical linkage between minds and physical states.

William James (1893, p.486), writing at the end of the nineteenth century, said of the scientists
who would one day illuminate the mind-body problem: ``the best way in which we can facilitate
their advent is to understand how great is the darkness in which we grope, and never forget that
the natural-science assumptions with which we started are provisional and revisable things.''
How wonderfully prescient! It is now well known that the precepts of classical physical theory are
fundamentally incorrect. Classical physical theory has been superceded by quantum theory,
which reproduces all of the empirical successes of classical physical theory, and succeeds also in
every known case where the predictions of classical physical theory fail. Yet even though
quantum theory yields all the correct predictions of classical physical theory, its representation of
the physical aspects of nature is profoundly different from that of classical physical theory. And
the most essential difference concerns precisely the connection between physical states and
consciousness.
My thesis here is that the difficulty with the traditional attempts to understand the mind-brain
system lies primarily with the physics assumptions, and only secondarily with the philosophy:
once the physics assumptions are rectified the philosophy will take care of itself. A correct
understanding of the mind/matter connection cannot be based on a conception of the physical
aspects of nature that is profoundly mistaken precisely at the critical point, namely the role of
consciousness in the dynamics of physical systems.
Contemporary science, rationally pursued, provides an essentially new understanding of the
mind/brain system. This revised understanding is in close accord with our intuitive understanding
of that system: no idea of a ``benign user illusion'' arises, nor any counter-intuitive idea that a
conscious thought is identical to a collection of tiny objects moving about in some special kind of
way.
Let it be said, immediately, that this solution lies not in the invocation of quantum randomness: a
significant dependence of human action on random chance would be far more destructive of any
rational notion of personal responsibility than microlocal causation ever was.
The solution hinges not on quantum randomness, but rather on the dynamical effects within
quantum theory of the intention and attention of the observer.
But how did physicists ever manage to bring conscious thoughts into the dynamics of physical
systems? That is an interesting tale.
The World as Knowings
In his book ``The creation of quantum mechanics and the Bohr- Pauli dialogue" the historian John
Hendry (1984) gives a detailed account of the fierce struggles, during the first quarter of this
century, by such eminent thinkers as Hilbert, Jordan, Weyl, von Neumann, Born, Einstein,
Sommerfeld, Pauli, Heisenberg, Schroedinger, Dirac, Bohr and others, to come up with a rational
way of comprehending the data from atomic experiments. Each man had his own bias and
intuitions, but in spite of intense effort no rational comprehension was forthcoming. Finally, at the
1927 Solvay conference a group including Bohr, Heisenberg, Pauli, Dirac, and Born come into
concordance on a solution that came to be called ``The Copenhagen Interpretation". Hendry
says: ``Dirac, in discussion, insisted on the restriction of the theory's application to our knowledge
of a system, and on its lack of ontological content." Hendry summarized the concordance by
saying: ``On this interpretation it was agreed that, as Dirac explained, the wave function
represented our knowledge of the system, and the reduced wave packets our more precise
knowledge after measurement."

Let there be no doubt about this key point, namely that the mathematical theory was asserted to
be directly about our knowledge itself, not about some imagined-to-exist world of particles and
fields.
Heisenberg (1958a): ``The conception of objective reality of the elementary particles has thus
evaporated not into the cloud of some obscure new reality concept but into the transparent clarity
of a mathematics that represents no longer the behavior of particles but rather our knowledge of
this behavior."
Heisenberg (1958b): ``...the act of registration of the result in the mind of the observer. The
discontinuous change in the probability function...takes place with the act of registration, because
it is the discontinuous change in our knowledge in the instant of registration that has its image in
the discontinuous change of the probability function."
Heisenberg (1958b:) ``When the old adage `Natura non facit saltus' is used as a basis of a
criticism of quantum theory, we can reply that certainly our knowledge can change suddenly, and
that this fact justifies the use of the term `quantum jump'. "
Wigner (1961): ``the laws of quantum mechanics cannot be formulated ... without recourse to the
concept of consciousness."
Bohr (1934): ``In our description of nature the purpose is not to disclose the real essence of
phenomena but only to track down as far as possible relations between the multifold aspects of
our experience."
Certainly this profound shift in physicists' conception of the basic nature of their endeavor, and
the meanings of their formulas, was not a frivolous move: it was a last resort. The very idea that
in order to comprehend atomic phenomena one must abandon ontology, and construe the
mathematical formulas to be directly about the knowledge of human observers, rather than about
the external real events themselves, is so seemingly preposterous that no group of eminent and
renowned scientists would ever embrace it except as an extreme last measure. Consequently, it
would be frivolous of us simply to ignore a conclusion so hard won and profound, and of such
apparent direct bearing on our effort to understand the connection of our knowings to our physical
actions.
This monumental shift in the thinking of scientists was an epic event in the history of human
thought. Since the time of the ancient Greeks the central problem in understanding the nature of
reality, and our role in it, has been the puzzling separation of nature into two seemingly very
different parts, mind and matter. This had led to the divergent approaches of Idealism and
Materialism. According to the precepts of Idealism our ideas, thoughts, sensations, feelings, and
other experiential realities, are the only realities whose existence is certain, and they should be
taken as basic. But then the enduring external structure normally imagined to be carried by matter
is difficult to fathom. Materialism, on the other hand, claims that matter is basic. But if one starts
with matter then it is difficult to understand how something like your experience of the redness of
a red apple can be constructed out of it, or why the experiential aspect of reality should exist at all
if, as classical mechanics avers, the material aspect is causally complete by itself. There seems
to be no rationally coherent way to comprehend the relationship between our thoughts and the
thoughtless atoms that external reality was imagined to consist of.
Einstein never accepted the Copenhagen interpretation. He said: ``What does not satisfy me,
from the standpoint of principle, is its attitude toward what seems to me to be the programmatic
aim of all physics: the complete description of any (individual) real situation (as it supposedly
exists irrespective of any act of observation or substantiation)." (Einstein, 1951, p.667) and
``What I dislike in this kind of argumentation is the basic positivistic attitude, which from my view

is untenable, and which seems to me to come to the same thing as Berkeley's principle, esse est
percipi." (Einstein, 1951, p. 669).[Translation: To be is to be perceived]
Einstein struggled until the end of his life to get the observer's knowledge back out of physics. But
he did not succeed! Rather he admitted that:
``It is my opinion that the contemporary quantum theory...constitutes an optimum formulation of
the [statistical] connections." (ibid. p. 87).
He referred to: ``the most successful physical theory of our period, viz., the statistical quantum
theory which, about twenty-five years ago took on a logically consistent form. ... This is the only
theory at present which permits a unitary grasp of experiences concerning the quantum character
of micro-mechanical events." (ibid p. 81).
One can adopt the cavalier attitude that these profound difficulties with the classical conception of
nature are just some temporary retrograde aberration in the forward march of science. Or one
can imagine that there is simply some strange confusion that has confounded our best minds for
seven decades, and that their absurd findings should be ignored because they do not fit our
intuitions. Or one can try to say that these problems concern only atoms and molecules, and not
things built out of them. In this connection Einstein said:
``But the `macroscopic' and `microscopic' are so inter-related that it appears impracticable to give
up this program [of basing physics on the `real'] in the `microscopic' alone." (ibid, p.674).
What Is Really Happening?
Orthodox quantum theory is pragmatic: it is a practical tool based on human knowings. It takes
our experiences as basic, and judges theories on the basis of how well they work {\it for us},
without trying to attribute any reality to the entities of the theory, beyond the reality {for us} that
they acquire from their success in allowing us to find rational order in the structure of our past
experiences, and to form sound expectations about the consequences of our possible future
actions.
But the opinion of many physicists, including Einstein, is that the proper task of scientists is to try
to construct a rational theory of nature that is not based on so small a part of the natural world as
human knowledge. John Bell opined that we physicists ought to try to do better than that.
The question thus arises as to what is `really happening'.
Heisenberg (1958) answered this question in the following way:
``Since through the observation our knowledge of the system has changed discontinuously, its
mathematical representation also has undergone the discontinuous change, and we speak of a
`quantum jump'."
``A real difficulty in understanding the interpretation occurs when one asks the famous question:
But what happens `really' in an atomic event?"
``If we want to describe what happens in an atomic event, we have to realize that the word
`happens' can apply only to the observation, not to the state of affairs between the two
observations. It [ the word `happens' ] applies to the physical, not the psychical act of
observation, and we may say that the transition from the `possible' to the `actual' takes place as
soon as the interaction of the object with the measuring device, and therefore with the rest of the

world, has come into play; it is not connected with the act of registration of the result in the mind
of the observer. The discontinuous change in the probability function, however, occurs with the
act of registration, because it is the discontinuous change in our knowledge in the instant of
recognition that has its image in the discontinuous change in the probability function."
This explanation uses two distinct modes of description. One is a pragmatic knowledge-based
description in terms of the Copenhagen concept of the discontinuous change of the quantumtheoretic probability function at the registration of new knowledge in the mind of the observer. The
other is an ontological description in terms of `possible' and `actual', and `interaction of object
with the measuring device'. The latter description is an informal supplement to the strict
Copenhagen interpretation. I say `informal supplement' because this ontological part is not tied
into quantum theoretical formalism in any precise way. It assuages the physicists' desire for an
intuitive understanding of what could be going on behind the scenes, without actually interfering
with the workings of the pragmatic set of rules.
Heisenberg's transition from `the possible' to `the actual' at the dumb measuring device was
shown to be a superfluous and needless complication by von Neumann's analysis of the quantum
process of measurement (von Neumann, 1932, Chapter VI). I shall discuss that work later, but
note here only the key conclusion. von Neumann introduced the measuring instruments and the
body/brains of the community of human observers into the quantum state, which is quantum
theory's only representation of ``physical reality''. He then showed that if an observer experiences
the fact that, for example, `the pointer on a measuring device has swung to the right', then this
increment in the observer's knowledge can be associated exclusively with a reduction (i.e.,
sudden change)of the state of the brain of that observer to the part of that brain state that is
compatible with his new knowledge. No change or reduction of the quantum state at the dumb
measuring device is needed: no change in ``knowledge'' occurs there. This natural association of
human ``knowings'' with events in human brains allows the `rules' of the Copenhagen
interpretation pertaining to ``our knowledge'' to be represented in a natural ontological framework.
Indeed, any reduction event at the measuring device itself would, strictly speaking, disrupt in
principle the validity of the predictions of quantum theory. Thus the only natural ontological place
to put the reduction associated with the increases in knowledge upon which the Copenhagen
interpretation is built is in the brain of the person whose knowledge is increased.
My purpose in what follows is to reconcile the insight of the founders of quantum theory, namely
that the mathematical formalism of quantum theory is about our knowledge, with the demand of
Einstein that basic physical theory be about nature herself. I shall achieve this reconciliation by
incorporating human beings, including both their body/brains and their conscious experiences,
into the quantum mechanical description of nature.
The underlying commitment here is to the basic quantum principle that information is the currency
of reality, not matter: the universe is an informational structure, not a substantive one. This fact is
becoming ever more clear in the empirical studies of the validity of the concepts of quantum
theory in the context of complex experiments with simple combinations of correlated quantum
systems, and in the related development of quantum information processing. Information-based
language works beautifully, but substance-based language does not work at all..
Mind/Brain Dynamics: Why Quantum Theory Is Needed
A first question confronting a classically biased mind-brain researcher is this: How can two things
so differently described and conceived as substantive matter and conscious thoughts interact in
any rationally controlled and scientifically acceptable way. Within the classical framework this is
impossible. Thus the usual tack has been to abandon or modify the classical conception of mind
while clinging tenaciously to the ``scientifically established'' classical idea of matter, even in the
face of knowledge that the classical idea of matter is now known by scientists to be profoundly
and fundamentally mistaken, and mistaken not only on the microscopic scale, but on the scale of

meters and kilometers as well (Tittel, 1998). Experiments show that our experiences of
instruments cannot possibly be just the passive witnessing of macroscopic physical realities that
exist and behave in the way that the ideas of classical physical theory say that macroscopic
physical realities ought to exist and behave.
Scientists and philosophers intent on clinging to familiar classical concepts normally argue at this
point that whereas long-range quantum effects can be exhibited under rigorous conditions of
isolation and control, all quantum effects will be wiped out in warm wet brains on a very small
scale, and hence classical concepts will be completely adequate to deal with the question of the
relationship between our conscious thoughts and the large-scale brain activities with which they
are almost certainly associated.
That argument is incorrect. The emergence of classical-type relationships arise from interactions
between a system and its environment. These interactions induce correlations between this
system and its environment that make certain typical quantum interference effects difficult to
observe {in practice}, and that allow certain practical computations to be simplified by substituting
a classical system for a quantum one. However, these correlation (decoherence) effects definitely
do not entail the true emergence --- even approximately --- of a single classically describable
system. (Zurek, 1986, p.89 and Joos, 1986, p.12). In particular, if the subsystem of interest is a
brain then interactions between its parts produce a gigantic jumble of partially interfering
classical-type states: no single approximately classical reality emerges. Yet if no --- evenapproximate --- single classical reality emerges at any macroscopic scale, but only a jumble of
partially interfering quantum states, then the investigation of an issue as basic as the nature of
the mind-brain connection ought {\it in principle} to be pursued within an exact framework, rather
than crippling the investigation from the outset by replacing correct principles by concepts known
to be fundamentally and grossly false, just because they allow certain {\it practical} computations
to be simplified. This general argument is augmented by a more detailed examination of the
present case. The usual argument for the approximate {pragmatic} validity of a classical
conceptualization of a system is based on assumptions about the nature of the question that is
put to nature. The assumption in the usual case is that this question will be about something like
the position of a visible object. Then one has a clear separation of the world into its pertinent
parts: the unobservable atomic subsystem, the observable features of the instrument, and
unobserved features of the environment, including unobserved micro-features of the instrument.
The empirical question is about the observable features of the instrument. These features are
essentially just the overall position and orientation of a visible object.
But the central issue in the present context is precisely the character of the brain states that are
associated with conscious experiences. It is not known a priori whether or how a self-observing
quantum system separates into these various parts. It is not clear, a priori, that a self-observing
brain can be separated into components analogous to observer, observee, and environment.
Consequently, one cannot rationally impose prejudicial assumptions --- based on pragmatic utility
in simple cases in which the quantum system and measuring instrument are two distinct systems
both external to the human observer, and strongly coupled to an unobservable environment --- in
this vastly different present case, in which the quantum system being measured, the observing
instrument, and ``the observer'' are aspects of one unified body/brain/mind system observing
itself.
In short, the practical utility of classical concepts in certain special situations arises from the very
special forms of the empirical questions that are to be asked in those situations. Consequently,
one must revert to the basic physical principles in this case where the special conditions of
separation fail, and the nature of the questions put to nature can therefore be quite different.
The issue here is not whether distinct objects that we observe via our senses can be treated as
classical objects. It is whether in the description of the complex inner workings of a thinking
human brain it is justifiable to assume --- not just for certain simple practical purposes, but as a

matter of principle --- that this brain is made up of tiny interacting parts of a kind known not to
exist.
The only rational scientific way to proceed in this case of a mind/brain observing itself is to start
from basic quantum theory, not from a theory that is known to be profoundly incorrect.
The vonNeumann/Wigner ``orthodox'' quantum formalism that I employ automatically and neatly
encompasses all quantum and classical predictions, including the transition domains between
them. It automatically incorporates all decoherence effects, and the partial ``classicalization''
effects that they engender.
Von Neumann/Wigner Quantum Theory
Wigner used the word ``orthodox'' to describe the formulation of quantum theory developed by
von Neumann. It can be regarded as a partial ontologicalization of its predecessor, Copenhagen
quantum theory.
The central concept of the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum theory, as set forth by the
founders at the seminal Solvay conference of 1927, is that the basic mathematical entity of the
theory, the quantum state of a system, represents ``our knowledge'' of the system, and the
reduced state represents our more precise knowledge after measurement.
In the strict Copenhagen view, the quantum state is always the state of a limited system that does
not include the instruments that we use to prepare that system or later to measure it. Our relevant
experiences are those that we described as being our observations of the observable features of
these instruments.
To use the theory one needs relationships between the mathematical quantities of the theory and
linguistic specifications on the observable features of the instruments. These specifications are
couched in the language that we use to communicate to our technically trained associates what
we have done(how we have constructed our instruments, and put them in place) and what we
have learned (which outcomes have appeared to us). Thus pragmatic quantum theory makes
sense only when regarded as a part of a larger enveloping language that allows us describe to
each other the dispositions of the instruments and ordinary objects that are relevant to the
application we make. The connections between these linguistic specifications and the
mathematical quantities of the theory are fixed, fundamentally, by the empirical calibrations of our
instruments.
These calibration procedures do not, however, fully exploit all that we know about the atomic
properties of the instruments.
That Bohr was sensitive to this deficiency, is shown by following passage:
``On closer consideration, the present formulation of quantum mechanics, in spite of its great
fruitfulness, would yet seem no more than a first step in the necessary generalization of the
classical mode of description, justified only by the possibility of disregarding in its domain of
application the atomic structure of the measuring instruments. For a correlation of still deeper
lying laws of nature ... this last assumption can no longer be maintained and we must be
prepared for a ... still more radical renunciation of the usual claims of so-called visualization.
(Bohr, 1936, p,293-4)''
Bohr was aware of the work in this direction by John von Neumann (1932), but believed von
Neumann to be on a wrong track. Yet the opinion of many other physicists is that von Neumann

made the right moves: he brought first the measuring instruments, and eventually the entire
physical universe, including the human observers themselves, into the physical system
represented by the quantum state. The mathematical theory allows one to do this, and it is
unnatural and problematic to do otherwise: any other choice would be an artifact, and would
create problems associated with an artificial separation of the unified physical system into
differently described parts. This von Neumann approach, in contrast to the Copenhagen
approach, allows the quantum theory to be applied both to cosmological problems, and to the
mind-body problem.
Most efforts to improve upon the original Copenhagen quantum theory are based on von
Neumann's formulation. That includes the present work. However, almost every other effort to
modify the Copenhagen formulation aims to improve it by removing the consciousness of the
observer from quantum theory: they seek to bring quantum theory in line with the basic
philosophy of the superceded classical theory, in which consciousness is imagined to be a
disconnected passive witness.
I see no rationale for this retrograde move. Why should we impose on our understanding of
nature the condition that consciousness not be an integral part of it, or an unrealistic stricture of
impotence that is belied by the deepest testimony of human experience, and is justified only by a
theory now known to be fundamentally false, when the natural form of the superceding theory
makes experience efficacious?
I follow, therefore, the von Neumann/Wigner [N/W] formulation, in which the entire physical world
is represented by a quantum mechanical state, and each thinking human being is recognized as
an aspect of the total reality: each thinking human being is a body/brain/mind system, consisting
of a sequence of conscious events, called knowings, bound together by the physical structure
that is his body/brain.
However, the basic idea, and the basic rules, of Copenhagen quantum theory are strictly
maintained: the quantum state continues to represent knowledge, and each experiential
increment in knowledge, or knowing, is accompanied by a reduction of the quantum state to a
form compatible with that increase in knowledge.
By keeping these connections intact one retains both the close pragmatic link between the theory
and empirical knowledge, which is entailed by the quantum rules, and also the dynamical efficacy
of conscious experiences, which follows from the action of the `reduction of the quantum state'
that, according to the quantum rules, is the image in the physical world of the conscious event.
In this theory, each conscious event has as its physical image not a reduction of the state of
some small physical system that is external to the body/brain of the person to whom the
experience belongs, as specified by the Copenhagen approach. Rather, the reduction is in that
part of the state of the universe that constitutes the state of the body/brain of the person to whom
the experience belongs: the reduction actualizes the pattern of activity that is sometimes called
the ``neural correlate'' of that conscious experience. The theory thus ties in a practical way into
the vast field of mind-brain research: i.e., into studies of the correlations between, on the one
hand, brain activities of a subject, as measured by instrumental probes and described in physical
terms, and, on the other hand, the subjective experiences, as reported by the subject, and
described in the language of ``folk psychology'' [i.e., in terms of feelings, beliefs, desires,
perceptions, and the other psychological features.]
My aim now is to show in more detail how the conscious intentions of a human being can
influence the activities of his brain. To do this I must first explain the two important roles of the
quantum observer.

The Two Roles of the Quantum Observer

Most readers will have heard of the Schroedinger equation: it is the quantum analog of Newton's
and Maxwell's equations of motion of classical mechanics. The Schroedinger equation,like
Newton's and Maxwell's equations, is deterministic: given the motion of the quantum state for all
times prior to the present, the motion for all future time is fixed, insofar as the Schroedinger
equation is satisfied for all times.
However, the Schroedinger equation fails when an increment of knowledge occurs: then there is
a sudden jump to a `reduced' state, which represents the new state of knowledge. This jump
involves the well-known element of quantum randomness.
A superficial understanding of quantum theory might easily lead one to conclude that the entire
dynamics is controlled by just the combination of the local-deterministic Schroedinger equation
and the elements of quantum randomness. If that were true then our conscious experiences
would again become epiphenomenal side-shows. To see beyond this superficial appearance one
must look more closely at the two roles of the observer in quantum theory.
Niels Bohr (1951, p.223), in recounting the important events at the Solvay Conference of 1927,
says: ``On that occasion an interesting discussion arose also about how to speak of the
appearance of phenomena for which only predictions of a statistical nature can be made. The
question was whether, as regards the occurrence of individual events, we should adopt the
terminology proposed by Dirac, that we have to do with a choice on the part of `nature' or, as
suggested by Heisenberg, we should say that we have to do with a choice on the part of the
`observer' constructing the measuring instruments and reading their recording.''
Bohr stressed this choice on part of the observer: ``...our possibility of handling the measuring
instruments allow us only to make a choice between the different complementary types of
phenomena we want to study.''
The observer in quantum theory does more than just read the recordings. He also chooses which
question will be put to Nature: which aspect of nature his inquiry will probe. I call this important
function of the observer `The Heisenberg Choice', to contrast it with the `Dirac Choice', which is
the random choice on the part of Nature that Dirac emphasized.
According to quantum theory, the Dirac Choice is a choice between alternatives that are specified
by the Heisenberg Choice: the observer must first specify what aspect of the system he intends to
measure or probe, and then put in place an instrument that will probe that aspect.
In quantum theory it is the observer who both poses the question, and recognizes the answer.
Without some way of specifying what the question is, the quantum rules will not work: the
quantum process grinds to a halt. Nature does not answer, willy-nilly, all questions: it answers
only properly posed questions.
A question put to Nature must be one with a Yes-or-No answer, or a sequence of such questions.
The question is never of the form ``Where will object O turn out to be?'', where the possibilities
range in a smooth way over a continuum of values. The question is rather of a form such as:
``Will the center of object O --- perhaps the pointer on some instrument --- be found by the
observer to lie in the interval between 6 and 7 on some specified `dial'?''
The human observer poses such a question, which must be such that the answer Yes is
experientially recognizable. Nature then delivers the answer, Yes or No. Nature's answers are
asserted by quantum theory to conform to certain statistical conditions, which are determined
jointly by the question posed and the form of the prior state (of the body/brain of the observer.)

The observer can examine the answers that Nature gives, in a long sequence of trials with similar
initial conditions, and check the statistical prediction of the theory.
This all works well at the pragmatic Copenhagen level, where the observer stands outside the
quantum system, and is simply accepted for what he empirically is and does. But what happens
when we pass to the N/W ontology? The observer then no longer stands outside the quantum
system: he becomes a dynamical body/brain/mind system that is an integral dynamical part of the
quantum universe.
The basic problem that originally forced the founders of quantum theory to bring the human
observers into the theory was that the evolution of the state via the Schroedinger equation does
not fix or specify where and when the question is posed, or what the question actually is. This
problem was resolved by placing this issue in the hands and mind of the external human
observer.
Putting the observer inside the system does not, by itself, resolve this basic problem: the
Schroedinger evolution alone remains unable to specify what the question is. Indeed, this
bringing of the human observer into the quantum system intensifies the problem, because there is
no longer the option of shifting the problem away, to some outside agent. Rather, the problem is
brought to a head, because the human agent is precisely the quantum system that is under
investigation.
In the Copenhagen formulation the Heisenberg choice was made by the mind of the external
human observer. I call this process of choosing the question the Heisenberg process. In the vN/W
formulation this choice is not made by the local deterministic Schroedinger process and the global
stochastic Dirac process. So there is still an essential need for a third process, the Heisenberg
process. Thus the agent's mind can continue to play its key role. But the mind of the human agent
is now an integral part of the dynamical body/brain/mind. We therefore have, now, an intrinsically
more complex dynamical situation, one in which a person's conscious thoughts can --- and
evidently must, if no new element is brought in, --- play a role that is not reducible to the
combination of the Schroedinger and Dirac processes. In an evolving human brain governed by
ionic concentrations and electric-magnetic field gradients, and other continuous field-like
properties, rather than sharply defined properties, or discrete well-defined ``branches'' of the
wave function, the problem of specifying, within this amorphous and diffusive context, the welldefined question that is put to nature is quite nontrivial.
Having thus identified this logical opening for efficacious human mental action, I now proceed to
fill in the details of how it might work.
How Conscious Thoughts Could Influence Brain Process
Information is the currency of reality. That is the basic message of quantum theory.
The basic unit of information is the ``bit'': the answer `Yes' or `No' to some specific question.
In quantum theory the answer `Yes' to a posed question is associated with an operator $P$ that
depends on the question. The defining property of a projection operator is that $P$ squared
equals $P$: asking the very same question twice it is the same as asking it once. The operator
associated with the answer `No' to this same question is $1-P$. Note that $(1-P)$ is also a
projection operator: $(1-P)^2 = 1 -2P + P^2 = 1-2P +P=(1-P)$.
To understand the meaning of these operators $P$ and $(1-P)$ it is helpful to imagine a trivial
classical example. Suppose a motionless classical heavy point-like particle is known to be in a
box that is otherwise empty. Suppose a certain probability function F represents all that you know

about the location of this particle. Suppose you then send some light through the left half of the
box that will detect the particle if it is in the left half of the box, but not tell you anything about
where in the left half of the box the particle lies. Suppose, moreover, that the position of the
particle is undisturbed by this observation. Then let P be the operator that acting on any function
$f$ sets that function to zero in the right half of the box, but leaves it unchanged in the left half of
the box. Note that two applications of P has exactly the same effect as one application, $P^2 =
P$. The question put to nature by your probing experiment is: ``Do you now know that particle is
in the left half of the box? Then the function PF represents, apart from an overall normalization
factor, your new state of knowledge if the answer to the posed question was YES. Likewise, the
function (1-P)F represents, apart from overall normalization, the new probability function, if the
answer was NO.
The quantum counterpart of F is the operator S. Operators are like functions that do not
commute: the order in which you apply them matters. The analog of $PF \equiv PFP$ is $PSP$,
and the analog of $(1-P)F \equiv (1-P)F(1-P)$ is $(1-P)S(1-P)$. This is how the quantum state
represents information and knowledge, and how increments in knowledge affect the quantum
state.
I have described in my book (Stapp, 1993, Ch 6) my conception of how the quantum mind/brain
works. It rests on some ideas/findings of William James.
William James(1910, p.1062) says that: ``a discrete composition is what actually obtains in our
perceptual experience. We either perceive nothing, or something that is there in sensible amount.
This fact is what in psychology is known as the law of the `threshold'. Either your experience is of
no content, of no change, or it is of a perceptual amount of content or change. Your acquaintance
with reality grows literally by buds or drops of perception. Intellectually and on reflection you can
divide these into components, but as immediately given theycome totally or not at all.''
This wholeness of each perceptual experience is a main conclusion, and theme, of Jamesian
psychology. It fits neatly with the quantum ontology.
Given a well posed question about the world to which one's attention is directed quantum theory
says that nature either gives the affirmative answer, in which case there occurs an experience
describable as ``Yes, I perceive it!'' or, alternatively, no experience occurs in connection with that
question. In N/W theory the `Yes' answer is represented by a projection operator P that acts on
the degrees of freedom of the brain of the observer, and reduces the state of this brain --- and
also the state S of the universe--- to one compatible with that answer `Yes': S is reduced to PSP.
If the answer is `No', then the projection operator $(1-P)$ is applied to the state S: S is reduced to
(1-P)S(1-P). [See Stapp (1998b) for technical details.]
James (1890, p.257) asserts that each conscious experience, though it comes to us whole, has a
sequence of temporal components ordered in accordance with the ordering in which they have
entered into one's stream of conscious experiences. These components are like the columns in a
marching band: at each viewing only a subset of the columns is in front of the viewing stand. At a
later viewing a new column has appeared on one end, and one has disappeared at the other. (cf.
Stapp, 1993, p. 158.) It is this possibility of having a sequence of different components present in
a single thought that allows conscious analysis and comparisons to be made.
Infants soon grasp the concept of their bodies in interaction with a world of persisting objects
about them. This suggests that the brain of an alert person normally contains a ``neural''
representation of the current state of his body and the world about him. I assume that such a
representation exists, and call it the body-world schema. (Stapp, 1993, Ch. 6)

Consciously directed action is achieved, according to this theory, by means of a `projected' (into
the future) temporal component of the thought, and of the body-world schema actualized by the
thought: the intended action is represented in this projected component as a mental image of the
intended action, and as a corresponding representation in the brain, (i.e., in a body-world
schema) of that intended action. The neural activities that automatically flow from the associated
body-world schema tend to bring the intended bodily action into being.
The coherence and directedness of a person's stream of consciousness is maintained, according
to this theory, because the instructions effectively issued to the unconscious processes of the
brain by the natural dynamical unfolding that issues from the actualized body-world schema
include not only the instructions for the initiation or continuation of motor actions but also
instructions for the initiation or continuation of mental processing. This means that the
actualization associated with one thought leads physically to the emergence of the propensities
for the occurrence of the next thought, or of later thoughts. (Stapp, 1993, Ch. 6)
The idea here is that the action --- on the state $S$ --- of the projection operator P that is
associated with a thought $T$ will actualize a pattern of brain activity that will dynamically evolve
in such a way as to tend to create a subsequent state that is likely to achieve the intention of the
thought $T$. The natural cause of this positive correlation between the experiential intention of
the thought $T$ and the matching confirmatory experience of a succeeding thought $T'$ is
presumably set in place during the formation of brain structure, in the course of the person's
interaction with his environment, by the reinforcement of brain structures that result in empirically
successful pairings between experienced intentions and subsequently experienced perceptions.
These can be physically compared because both are expressed physically by similar body-world
schemas.
As noted previously, the patterns of brain activity that are actualized by an event unfold not only
into instructions to the motor cortex to institute intended motor actions. They unfold also into
instructions for the creation of the conditions for the next experiential event. But the Heisenberg
uncertainties in, for example, the locations of the atomic and ionic constituents of the nerve
terminals, and more generally of the entire brain, necessarily engender a quantum diffusion in the
evolving state of the brain. Thus the dynamically generated state that is the pre-condition for the
next event will not correspond exactly to a well defined unique question: some `scatter' will
invariably creep in. However, a specific question must be posed in order for the next quantum
event to occur!
This problem of how to specify ``the next question'' is the central problem in most attempts to
`improve' the Copenhagen interpretation by excluding ``the observer''. If one eliminates the
observer, then something else must be brought in to fix the next question: i.e., to make the
Heisenberg choice.
The main idea here is to continue to allow the question to be posed by the `observer', who is now
an integral part of the quantum system: the observer is a body/brain/mind subsystem. The
Heisenberg Choice, which is the choice of an operator P that acts macroscopically, as a unit, on
the observing system, is not fixed by the Schroedinger equation, or by the Dirac Choice, so it is
most naturally fixed by the experiential part of that system, which seems to pertain to
macroscopic aspects of brain activity taken as units.
Each experience is asserted to have an intentional aspect, which is its experiential goal or aim,
and an attentional aspect, which is an experiential focussing on an updating of the current status
of the person's idea of his body, mind, and environment.
When an action is initiated by some thought, part of the instruction is normally to monitor, by
attention, the ensuing action, in order to check it against the intended action.

In order for the appropriate experiential check to occur, the appropriate question must be asked.
The intended action is formulated in experiential terms, and the appropriate monitoring question
is whether this intended experience matches the subsequently occurring experience. This
connection has the form of the transference of an experience defined by the intentional aspect of
an earlier experience into the experiential question attended to --- i.e., posed --- by a later
experience.
This way of closing the causal gap associated with the Heisenberg Choice introduces two parallel
lines of causal connection in the body/brain/mind system. On the one hand, there is the physical
line that unfolds --- under the control of the local deterministic Schroedinger equation --- from a
prior event, and that generates the physical {\it potentialities} for succeeding possible events.
Acting in parallel to this physical line of causation, there is a mental line of causation that
transfers the experiential intention of an earlier event into an experiential attention of a later
event. These two causal strands, one physical and one mental, join to form the physical and
mental poles of a succeeding quantum event.
In this model there are three intertwined factors in the causal structure:(1), the local causal
structure generated by the Schroedinger equation; (2), the Heisenberg Choices, which is based
on the experiential aspects of the body/brain/mind subsystem that constitutes a person; and (3),
the Dirac Choices on the part of nature.
The point of all this is that there is within the vN/W ontology a logical necessity, in order for the
quantum process to proceed, for some process to fix the Heisenberg Choice of the operator $P$,
which acts over an extended portion of the body/brain of the person. Neither the Schroedinger
evolution nor the Dirac stochastic choice can do the job. The only other known aspect of the
system is our conscious experience. It is possible, and natural, to use this mind part of
body/brain/mind system to produce the needed choice.
The mere logical possibility of a mind-matter interaction such as this, within the vN/W formulation,
indicates that quantum theory has the potential of permitting the experiential aspects of reality to
enter into the causal structure of body/brain/mind dynamics, and to enter in a way that is not fully
reducible to a combination of local mechanical causation specified by the Schroedinger equation
and the random quantum choices. The requirements of quantum dynamics {\it demand} some
further process, and an experienced-based process that fits both our ideas about our
psychological make up and also the quantum rules that connect our experiences to the
informational structure carried by the evolving physical state of the brain seems to be the perfect
candidate.
What has been achieved here is, of course, just a working out in more detail of Wigner's idea
that quantum theory, in the von Neumann form, allows for mind --- pure conscious experience --to interact with the `physical' aspect of nature, as that aspect is represented in quantum theory.
What permits this interaction is the fact that the physical aspect of nature, as it is represented in
quantum theory, is informational in character, and hence links naturally to increments in
knowledge. Because each increment in knowledge acts directly upon the quantum state, and
reduces it to the informational structure compatible with the new knowledge, there is, right from
the outset, an action of mind on the physical world. I have just worked out a possible scenario in
more detail, and in particular have emphasized how the causal gap associated with the
Heisenberg Choice allows mind to enter into the dynamics in a way that is quite in line with our
intuition about the efficacy of our thoughts. It is therefore simply wrong to proclaim that the
findings of science entail that our intuitions about the nature of our thoughts are necessarily
illusory or false. Rather, it is completely in line with contemporary science to hold our thoughts to
be causally efficacious, and reducible neither to the local deterministic Schroedinger process, nor
to that process combined with stochastic Dirac choices on the part of nature.
Idealism, Materialism, and Quantum Informationism.

I have stressed just now the idea-like character of the physical state of the universe, within N/W
quantum theory. This suggests that the theory may conform to the tenets of idealism. This is
partially true. The quantum state undergoes, when a fact become fixed in a local region, a sudden
jump that extends over vast reaches of space. This gives the physical state the character of a
representation of knowledge rather than a representation of substantive matter. When not
jumping the state represents potentialities or probabilities for actual events to occur. Potentialities
and probabilities are normally conceived to be idea-like qualities, not material realities. So as
regards the intuitive conception of the intrinsic nature of {\it what is represented} within the theory
by the physical state it certainly is correct to say that it is idea-like.
On the other hand, the physical state has a mathematical structure, and a behaviour that is
governed by the mathematical properies. It evolves much of the time in accordance with local
deterministic laws that are direct quantum counterparts of the local deterministic laws of classical
mechanics. Thus as regards various structural and causal properties the physical state certainly
has aspects that we normally associate with matter.
So this N/W quantum conception of nature ends up having both idea-like and matter-like qualities.
The causal law involves two complementary modes of evolution that, at least at the present level
theoretical development, are quite distinct. One of these modes involves a gradual change that is
governed by local deterministic laws, and hence is matter-like in character. The other mode is
abrupt, and is idea-like in two respects.
This hybrid ontology can be called an information-based reality. Each answer, Yes or No, to a
quantum question is one bit of information that is generated by a mental-type event. The physical
repository of this information is the quantum state of the universe: the new information is recorded
as a reduction of the quantum state of the universe to a new form, which then evolves
deterministically in accordance with the Schroedinger equation. Thus, according to this quantum
conception of nature, the physical universe --- represented by the quantum state --- is a
repository of evolving information that has the dispositional power to create more information.
This hybrid ontology can be called an information-based reality. Each answer. Yes or No, to a
quantum question is one bit of information that is generated by a mental-type event. This event is
registered as a reduction of the quantum state of the universe to a new form. This information is
stored in this state, which evolves deterministically in accordance with the Schroedinger equation.
Thus, according to the quantum conception, the physical universe --- represented by the quantum
state --- is a repository evolving information that has the dispositional power to create more
information.
Quantum Zeno Effect and The Efficacy of Mind
In the model described above the specifically mental effects are expressed solely through the
choice and the timings of the questions posed. The question then arises as to whether just the
choices about which questions are asked, with no control over which answers are returned, can
influence the dynamical evolution of a system.
The answer is `Yes': the evolution of a quantum state can be greatly influenced by the choices
and timings of the questions put to nature.
The most striking example of this is the Quantum Zeno Effect. (Chui, Sudarshan, and Misra,
1977, and Itano, et al. 1990). In quantum theory if one poses repeatedly, in very rapid
succession, the same Yes-or-No question, and the answer to the first of these posings is Yes,
then in the limit of very rapid-fire posings the evolution will be confined to the subspace in which
the answer is Yes: the effective Hamiltonian will change from H to PHP, where P is the projection
operator onto the Yes states. This means that evolution of the system is effectively ``boxed in'' in

the subspace where the answer continues to be Yes, if the question is posed sufficiently rapidly,
even if it would otherwise run away from that region.
This fact that the Hamiltonian is effectively changed in this macroscopic way shows that the
choices and timings of which questions are asked can affect observable properties.
Free Will and Causation
Personal responsibility is not reconciled with the quantum understanding of causation by making
our thoughts free, in the sense of being completely unconstrained by anything at all. It is solved,
rather, by making our thoughts part of the causal structure of the body/brain/mind system, but a
part that is not under the complete dominion of myopic ( i.e., microlocal) causation and random
chance. Our thoughts then become aspects of the causal structure that are entwined with the
micro-physical and random elements, yet are not completely reducible to them, or replaceable by
them.
Pragmatic Theory of the Mind/Brain
This N/W theory gives a conceivable ontology. However, for practical purposes it can be viewed
as a pragmatic theory of the human psycho-physical structure. It is deeper and more realistic than
the Copenhagen version because it links our thoughts not directly to objects (instruments) in the
external world, but rather to patterns of brain activity. It provides a theoretical structure based
explicitly on the two kinds of data at our disposal, namely the experiences of the subject, as he
describes these experiences to himself and his colleagues, and the experiences of the observers
of that subject, as they describe their experiences to themselves and their colleagues. These two
kinds of descriptions are linked together by a theoretical structure that neatly, precisely, and
automatically accounts, in a single uniform and practical way, for all known quantum and classical
effects. But, in contrast to the classical-physics based model, it has a ready-made place for an
efficacious mind, and provides a rational understanding of how such a mind could be causally
enmeshed with brain processes.
If one adopts this pragmatic view then one need never consider the question of nonhuman minds:
the theory then covers, by definition, the science that we human beings create to account for the
structure of our human experiences.
This pragmatic theory should provide satisfactory basis for a rational science of the human
mind/brain. It gives a structure that coherently combines the psychological and physical aspect of
human behavior. However, it cannot be expected to be exactly true, for it would entail the
existence of collapse events associated with increments in human knowledge, but no analogous
events associated with non-humans.
One cannot expect our species to play such a special role in nature. So this human-based
pragmatic version must be understood, from the ontological standpoint, as merely the first stage
in the development of a better ontological theory: one that accommodates the evolutionary
precursors to the human knowings that the pragmatic theory is based upon.
So far there is no known empirical evidence for the existence of any reduction events not
associated with human knowings. This impedes, naturally, the development of a science that
encompasses such other events.
Future Developments: Representation and Replication

The primary purpose of this paper has been to describe the general features of a pragmatic
theory of the human mind/brain that allows our thoughts to be causally efficacious yet not
controlled by local-mechanistic laws combined with random chance. Eventually, however, one
would like to expand this pragmatic version into a satisfactory ontology theory.
Human experiences are closely connected to human brains. Hence events similar to human
experiences would presumably not exist either in primitive life forms, or before life began. Hence
a more general theory that could deal with the {\it evolution of consciousness} would presumably
have to be based on something other than the ``experiential increments in knowledge'' that were
the basis of the pragmatic version described above.
Dennett (1994, p.236) identified intentionality (aboutness) as a phenomenon more fundamental
than consciousness, upon which he would build his theory of consciousness. `Aboutness'
pertains to representation: the representation of one thing in another.
The body-world schema is the brain's representation of the body and its environment. Thus it
constitutes, in the theory of consciousness described above, an element of ``aboutness'' that
could be seized upon as the basis of a more general theory.
However, there lies at the base of the quantum model described above an even more
rudimentary element: self-replication. The basic process in the model is the creation of events
that create likenesses of themselves. This tendency of thoughts to create likenesses of
themselves, helps to keep a train of thought on track.
Abstracting from our specific model of human consciousness one sees the skeleton of a general
process of self-replication. Fundamentally, the theory described above is a theory of events,
where each event has an attentional aspect and an intentional aspect. The attentional aspect of
an event specifies an item of information that fixes the operator $P$ associated with that event.
The intentional aspect of the event specifies the functional property injected into the dynamics by
the action of $P$ on $S$. This functional property is a tendency of the Schroedinger-directed
dynamics to produce a future event whose attentional aspect is the same as that of the event that
is producing this tendency. The effect of these interlocking processes is to inject into the
dynamics a directional tendency, based on approximate self-replication, that acts against the
chaotic diffusive tendency generated by the Schroedinger equation. Such a process could occur
before the advent of our species, and of life itself, and it could contribute to their emergence.
Conflation and Identity
A person's thoughts and ideas appear --- to that person himself --- to be able to do things: a
person's mental states seem to be able cause his body to move about in intended ways. Thus
thoughts seem to have functional power. Indeed, the idea of {\it functionalism} is that what makes
thoughts and other mental states what they are is precisely their functional power: e.g., my pain is
a pain by virtue of its functional or causal relationship to other aspects of the body/brain/mind
system. Of course, this would be merely a formal definition of the term ``mental state'' if it did not
correspond to the occurrence of an associated element in a person's stream of consciousness: in
the context of the present study --- of the connection between our brains and our inner
experiential lives --- the occurrence of a mental state in a person's mind is supposed to mean the
occurrence of a corresponding element in his stream of consciousness.
The identity theory of mind claims that each mental state is identical to some process in a brain.
But combining this idea with the classical-physics conception of the physical universe leads to
problems. They stem from the fact that the precepts of classical physical theory entail that the
entire causal structure of any complex physical system is completely determined by its
microscopic physical structure alone. Alternative high-level descriptions of certain complex

physical systems might be far more useful to us in practice, but they are in principle redundant
and unnecessary if the principles of classical physics hold. Thus it is accurate to say that the heat
of the flame caused the paper to ignite, or that the tornado ripped the roofs off of the houses and
left a path of destruction. But according to the precepts of classical physical theory the high-level
causes are mere mathematical reorganizations of microscopic causes that are completely
explainable micro-locally within classical physical theory. Nothing is needed beyond mathematical
reorganization and --- in order for us to be able to apply the theory --- the assumption that we can
empirically know, through observations via our senses, the approximate relative locations and
shapes of sufficiently large macroscopically localized assemblies of the microscopic physical
elements that the theory posits.
In the examples just described our experiences themselves are not the causes of the ignition or
destruction: our experiences merely help us to identify the causes. In fact, the idea behind
classical physical theory is that the local physical variables of the theory represent a collection of
ontologically distinct physical realities each of whose ontological status is (1), intrinsically
microlocal, (2), ontologically independent of our experiences, and (3), dynamically non-dependent
upon experiences. That is why quantum theory was such a radical break with tradition: in
quantum theory the physical description became enmeshed with our experiential knowledge, and
the physical state became causally dependent upon our mental states.
Quantum theory is, in this respect, somewhat similar to the identity theory of mind: both entangle
mind and physical process already at the ontological level. But the idea of the classical identity
theory of the mind is to hang onto the classical conception of physical reality, and aver that a
correct understanding of the true nature of a conscious thought would reveal it to be none other
than a classically describable physical process that brings about what the thought intends, given
the appropriate alignment of the relevant physical mechanisms. That idea is, in fact, what would
naturally emerge from quantum theory in the classical limit where the difference between Planck's
constant and zero can be ignored, and the positions of particles and their conjugate momentum
can both be regarded as well defined, relative to any question that is posed. In that limit there is
no effective quantum dispersion caused by the Heisenberg
uncertainty principle, and hence no indeterminism, and the only Heisenberg Choices of questions
about a future state that can get an answer `Yes' are those that are in accord with the functional
properties of the present state. So there would be, in that classical approximation to the quantum
process described above, a collapse of the two lines of causation, the physical and the mental,
into a single one that is fixed by the local classical deterministic rules. Thus in the classical
approximation the mental process would indeed be doing nothing beyond what the classical
physical process is already doing, and the two process might seem to be the same process. But
Planck's constant is not zero, and the difference from zero introduces quantum effects that
separate the two lines of causation, and allow their different causal roles to be distinguished.
The identity theory of mind raises puzzles. Why, in a world composed primarily of ontologically
independent micro-realities, each able to access or know only things in its immediate microscopic
environment, and each completely determined by micro-causal connections from its past, should
there be ontological realities such as conscious thoughts that can grasp or know, as wholes,
aspects of huge macroscopic collections of these micro-realities, and that can have intentions
pertaining to the future development of these macroscopic aspects, when that future development
is already completely fixed, micro-locally, by micro-realities in the past? The quantum treatment
discloses that these puzzles arise from the conflation in the classical limit of two very different but
interlocked causal processes, one micro-causal, bound by the past, and blind to the future, the
other macro-causal, probing the present, and projecting to the future.
Mental Force and the Volitional Brain

The psychiatrist Jeffrey Schwartz (1999) has described a clinically successful technique for
treating patients with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). The treatment is based on a
program that trains the patient to believe that his own {\it willful redirection} of his attention away
from intense urges of a kind associated with pathological activity within circuitry of the basal
ganglia, and toward adaptive functional behaviours, can, with sufficient persistent effort,
systematically change both the intrusive, maladaptive, obsessive-compulsive symptoms, as well
as the pathological brain activity associated with them. This treatment is in line with the quantum
mechanical understanding of mind/brain dynamics developed above, in which the
mental/experiential component of the causal structure enters brain dynamics via intentions that
govern attentions that influence brain activity.
According to classical physical theory ``a brain was always going to do what it was caused to do
by local mechanical disturbances,'' and the idea that one's ``will'', is actually able to cause
anything at all is ``a benign user illusion''. Thus Schwartz's treatment amounts, according to this
classical conceptualization, to deluding the patient into believing a lie: according to that classical
view Schwartz's intense therapy causes directly, in the patients behaviour, a mechanical shift that
the patient delusionally believes is the result of his own intense effort to redirect his activities, for
the purpose of effecting an eventual cure, but which (felt effort) is actually only a mysterious
illusionary by-product of his altered behaviour.
The presumption about the mind/brain that is the basis of Schwartz's successful clinical
treatment, and the training of his patients, is that willful redirection of attention is efficacious. His
success does not prove that `will' is efficacious, but it does constitute prima facie evidence that it
is. In fact, the belief that our thoughts can influence our actions is so basic to our entire idea of
ourselves and our place in nature, and is so essential to our actual functioning in this world, that
any suggestion that this idea is false would become plausible only under extremely coercive
conditions, such as its incompatibility with basic physics. But no such coercion exists.
Contemporary physical theory does allow our experiences, per se, to be truly efficacious and nonreducible: our experiences are elements of the causal structure that do necessary things that
nothing else in the theory can do. Thus science, if pursued with sufficient care, demands no
cloistering of disciplines, or interpretation as user illusions of the apparent causal effects of our
conscious thoughts upon our physical actions.

References
Niels Bohr (1934), Atomic Theory and the Description of Nature, Cambridge Univ. Press,
Cambridge.
Niels Bohr (1936), Causality and Complementarity, Philos. of Science, (Address to Second
International Congress for the Unity of Science, June, 1936).
Niels Bohr (1951), in reference A. Einstein (1951).
Niels Bohr (1958), Atomic Physics and Human Knowledge, Wiley, New York.
C.B. Chiu, E.C.G. Sudarshan, and B. Misra, (1977) Phys. Rev. D (16}, 520.
Daniel Dennett (1994), in A Companion to the Philosophy of Mind, ed. Samuel Guttenplan,
Blackwell, Oxford. ISBN 0-631-17953-4.
A. Einstein (1951), Albert Einstein: Philosopher-Physicist ed, P.A. Schilpp, Tudor, New York.

W. Itano, D. Heinzen, J. Bollinger, D. Wineland, (1990), Phys. Rev. {41A}, 2295-2300.

Heisenberg, W. (1958a) `The representation of nature in contemporary physics', {\it Deadalus} {bf
87}, 95-108.
Heisenberg, W. (1958b) Physics and Philosophy (New York: Harper and Row).
William James (1910), Some Problems in Philosophy, Ch X; in
William James/ Writings 1902-1910, The Library of America, New York. (1987). ISBN 0-94045018-0.
William James (1890), The principles of Psychology, Vol I, Dover, New York. ISBN 0-486-203816.
E. Joos (1986), Annals, NY Acad. Sci. Vol 480 6-13.ISBN 0-89766-355-1.
Richard Rorty (1979), Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature. Princeton U.P.
Jeffery M. Schwartz, A Role for Volition and Attention in the Generation of New Brain Circuitry:
Toward a Neurobiology of Mental Force, Journal of Consciousness Studies, June/July 1999.
Henry P. Stapp (1972), The Copenhagen Interpretation, Amer. J. Phys.(40}, 2098-1116.
Reprinted in Stapp (1993).
Henry P. Stapp (1993), Mind, Matter, and Quantum Mechanics, Springer-Verlag, New York,
Berlin, Heidelberg. ISBN 0-387-56289-3.
Henry P. Stapp (1998a), Pragmatic approach to consciousness, in Brain and Values: Is a
Biological Science of Values Possible? ed. Karl H. Pribram, Lawrence Erlbaum, Mahwah, NJ.
ISBN 0-8058-3154-1.\\
Or at www-physics.lbl.gov/~stapp/stappfiles.html
New Book ``Knowings'' (Book1.txt).
Henry P. Stapp (1998b), at www-physics.lbl.gov/~stapp/stappfiles.html
See ``Basics'' for mathematical details about the vN/W formalism.
Steven Pinker (1997), How the Mind Works, Norton, NY.ISBN 0-39304545-8.
W. Tittel, J. Brendel, H. Zbinden, and N. Gisin (1998), Physical Review
Letters {\bf 81}, 3563-3566.
J. von Neumann (1932), The mathematical principles of quantum mechanics, Princeton U.P.
Princeton NJ, 1955.
Wigner, E. (1961) `The probability of the existence of a self-reproducing unit', in The Logic of
Personal Knowledge ed. M. Polyani (London: Routledge \& Paul) pp. 231-238.

W. Zurek (1986) Annals, NY Acad. Sci. Vol 480, 89-97. ISBN 0-89766-355-1.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: Copyright Henry F. Stapp. From

www.consciousness.arizona.edu/quantum/JCS.htm. This work was supported in part by the
Director, Office of Science, Office of High Energy and Nuclear Physics, of the U.S. Department of
Energy under Contract DE-AC03-76SF00098.

Kabbalistic Rosary on the Tree of Life

While holding a Tree of Life icon or meditating on a
Tree of Life Diagram, recite the following rosary and touch
the corresponding gem or sefiroth as you speak. Alternatively,
you can use a string of ten beads while visualizing the Tree
of Life.

From that which is beyond comprehension, from nothingness to

endlessness, through infinite darkness, a contraction is made, and a Flash
of Light bursts forth:
A single point of light, beginning and Source of All, the Fountain of
Fountains, from the Crown of Keter in the Kingdom of Spirit (Clear Quartz Keter). From the first swirlings of creation, from the farthest reaches of the
universes Wisdom, Chokmah in the Temple of the Stars (Silver Obsidian Chokmah). Forming in the darkness from purest Understanding, Father and
Mother, Sulfur and Mercury, the first principles of all things, from Binah in
the Temple of the Great Sea (Black Onyx - Binah). Infinite Mercy floods the
universe, Ganymede in the service of the Cup, Chesed in the Temple of
Love (Lapis Lazuli - Chesed). I follow the path of Justice and Severity,
walking through fear to regain my Strength, Geburah in the Temple of
Power (Garnet - Geburah). The heart of the universe is the Beauty of all
things, so too am I redeemed through my Heart of Hearts, Tiphareth on the
Altar of the Soul with Daat, knowledge of the Abyss (Citrine - Tiphareth). My
Victory is the Secret Path, empowerment of the inheritor waiting within me,
Netzach in the Garden of Beauty (Jade - Netzach). I am surrounded by
hidden Splendor and Honor of the divine, living light shining in triumph all
around me, Hod in the House of Spells (Coral - Hod). I stand on bedrock,
relaxed at the Foundation of my own being, nourished and warmed by the
Secret Fire in my soul, Yesod in the Secret Valley of the Soul (Amethyst Yesod). The Kingdom lies Below and Above, in both created and uncreated
worlds, outside me and within me, in matter and energy, concealed in the
universal Salt, Malkuth in the Meadow of Delights (Tiger Eye - Malkuth).

(Pause in the moment, recognizing the Shekhinah, the immanent presence of

God. Remain silent for as long as comfortable, then begin the Path of the
Serpents Return:)
Grounded in eternity, I am at peace in the Kingdom, standing on the firm
Foundation of my soul, surrounded by Splendor, knowing life is my
Victory, seeing the Beauty of harmony, the truth of Severity, the grace of
Mercy, climbing through the heights of Understanding to touch the power
of Wisdom, focused through my Heart of Hearts on the simple light of the
Crown of Spirit, which is my journeys end.

Tree of Life Diagram

Seeds of Longevity
and a New Golden
Age
The alchemical marriage of the
Sun and Moon in marijuana seeds.
by Lynn Osburn
(openi420@juno.com)
Man Is a Microcosm, Robert Fludd, Utriusque Cosmi Historia,
Oppenheim, 1617.

Nature's Perfect Food

Seeds of the hemp plant contain all the
essential amino acids and essential fatty
acids necessary to maintain healthy
human life. No other single plant source
provides complete protein nutrition in such an easily digestible form. More
importantly, hempseed contains the oils essential to life in a perfect a ratio for
human health and vitality. Hempseed oil (35% of total seed weight) is the richest
source in the plant kingdom of these Essential Fatty Acids (EFAs ). The lustrous
oil contains 80-81% EFAs, and is among the lowest in saturated fat content, at
8% of total oil volume. Marijuana seeds are Natures perfect food for humanity.
Biochemist Dr. R. Lee Hamilton said, The EFAs are responsible for our immune
system. She, along with fellow UCLA researcher William Eidleman, conducted
promising research using the EFAs in the treatment of AIDS immune deficiency.
In an open letter concerning the valuable hemp seed, released by the two
researchers (Dec. 29, 1991), they announced that the possibility that feeding the
world is at our fingertips and went on to state, what is the richest source of
essential oils? Yes, you guessed it, the seeds from the cannabis hemp plant.
What better proof of the life giving values of the now illegal seed. What the world
needs now is intelligent re-legalization of cannabis hemp, especially for medical
intervention.
Studies done by seven time Nobel Prize nominee, Dr. Johana Budwig have
shown unparalleled results in the use of EFAs in the treatment of terminal cancer
patients. In her book, Flax Oil as a True Aid Against, Arthritis Heart Infraction,
Cancer, and Other Diseases, Dr. Budwig indicates that a balanced diet of
essential fatty acids would keep our cells biologically electron rich. Saturated
fats and trans-fats , which make up the vast majority of the food oils we now use
alter the electronic charge of the unsaturated oils in cell membranes, decreasing

the cells ability to store and receive electrons from the sun. Budwig goes on to
quote quantum physicist Dessauer: If it were possible to increase the
concentration of solar electrons tenfold in this biological electron rich molecule,
man would live to be 10,000 years old.
And the tree of eternal life is as it appeared by Gods will, to the North of Paradise, so that it might
make eternal the souls of the pure, who shall come forth from the modeled forms of poverty at the
consummation of the age. On the Origins of the World, The Nag Hamadi Library Gnostic
Scriptures

Marriage of the Sun and Moon

Dr. Budwig is one of the most lucid and penetrating sages of our time. She is a
Master of Science and reveals to us the mysterious marriage of the sun and
moon in terms of modern science: the transcendent sun-god, Photon, and the
moon-goddess, Electron :
Light is the fastest traveler from star to star. There is nothing that travels faster than light. Light
speeds along with time. It is eternal. Physicists emphasize that the photon, the quantum, the
smallest component of the suns rays is eternal. The photon is always in motion. Nothing can
ever halt its motion. The photon is full of color, and can change its color, its frequency, when
present in large numbers. The photon acknowledged to be the purest form of energy, the
purest wave, always in motion can unite with a second photon when it is in resonance with the
other, to form a short-lived particle. This particle, known as a 0 particle, can break up into two
photon s again, without mass, as a pure wave in motion. This is the basis for the wonderful back
and forth movement between light and matter. This photon can never be pinned down to one
location. Herein lies the foundation for the Theory of Relativity.
This very active, very dynamic very energetic photon can be captured by electron s that are in
resonance with the photon. What does that mean? Electrons are already a component of matter.
They are also continuously in motion. They constantly oscillate on their own wavelength. They
have their own frequency, just like a radio receiver that is set to a specific wavelength.
The electron loves photons. It attracts photons by its magnetic field. When an electrical charge
moves, it always produces a magnetic field. The moving photon also has a magnetic field. Both
fields, the magnetic field of the electrons and the magnetic field of the photons attract each other
when the wavelengths are in tune. The wave length of the photon which the photon can
change must fit into the wavelength of the orbiting electron so that the orbit maintains a
complete wavelength. This feature is extremely interesting in terms of its physical manifestation,
its biological and even its philosophical consequences. All matter has its own inherent vibration.
Of course, this also applies to living substances. The energy which is being absorbed must
correspond to the inherent wavelength.
The suns rays are very much in harmony with humans. It is no coincidence that we love the sun.
The resonance in our biological tissue is so strongly tuned to the absorption of solar energy that
physicists who occupy themselves with this scientific phenomena, the quantum biologists, say
that there is nothing on earth that has a higher concentration of solar energy photon s than
humans. This enrichment with solar energy depends strongly on the like energy aspects, a
wavelength that is compatible with humans, and this is supported when we eat foods that have
electron s with electromagnetic fields that attract the electromagnetic waves of solar rays the
photon. An abundance of these electrons, which are tuned to the solar energy frequency, exist,
for example, in many seed-oils. Scientifically these oils have even been designated as electron-

rich, essential, highly unsaturated fats. But when we began processing fats to prevent them
from spoiling, nobody thought about the significance that this would have for the survival and the
further development of the human species. We destroyed their extremely important wealth of
electrons, which are very mobile and react so wonderfully to sunlight.
When the sunshine beams down on the leafy canopy of a tree and is absorbed through
photosynthesis, a flow of electrons is produced. A magnetic field is also produced between these
trees as they conduct electrons and water. If we, who have an abundance of electrons and
possess living tissue that is capable of conducting a current, move through this electromagnetic
field of the woods, our tissues also become charged with solar-compatible electrons. As our
blood flows through the body, it induces an electrical charge on the lipids, the unsaturated fats, on
the membranes of the red corpuscles as it passes through the magnetic fields. In this way, many
inductions and reverse inductions occur. With every heartbeat, a dose of lymph containing the
bodys own electron-rich, highly unsaturated fats is injected into the bloodstream, and thus into
the heart, from the lymphatic system. This stimulates and strengthens the electromotive power of
the heart. The emitting of electromagnetic waves is associated with the very flow of the
bloodstream, in accord with the fundamental, natural law governing electromagnetic waves.
This transmitter in humans is always in operation. The cylindrical structure of our nerves with the
different layers and ganglions, with the difference in electrical potential between the neurons and
dendrites, immediately supplies the picture of how strongly an electric current in a magnetic field
leads to the emitting of electromagnetic waves. When I think a positive thought about another
person, this involves the emitting of electromagnetic waves. The reception also depends on the
wavelength to which the receiver is tuned. There are amplifiers, as well as transmitters that
interfere. This encompasses a whole host of situations that are known under different names
such as telepathy, hypnosis, mental telepathy, and many others. Among Nordic peoples, it is
known that the isolated native inhabitants use a tree to amplify thought transmission, for example,
to inform the husband who had gone to town, that he should bring back some salt. Bismark
described how, during periods of trouble or pressure, he found relaxation by putting his arms
around a tree and leaning his forehead against the trunk. In both cases, it involves
electromagnetic waves that behave in accord with Maxwellian mathematical equations. Dr.
Johanna Budwig , The Fat Syndrome and the Photon s of Solar Energy1[1]

The scene Dr. Budwig paints harkens back to the sacred groves planted by the
ancients as a place where one could commune with Nature and the gods.
Groves planted not to yield food for the body but to nourish the soul. All the
peoples of the Near East and the Mediterranean worshipped privately or in small
groups in sacred groves that had been laid out and planted according to divine
inspiration.
They took solitary morning walks to places which happened to be appropriately quiet, to the
temples or groves... They thought it inadvisable to converse with any one until they had gained
inner serenity, focusing their reasoning powers. They considered it turbulent to mingle in a crowd
as soon as they rose from bed, and that is the reason why these Pythagoreans always selected

22[1] A lecture held on April 6, 1972, at the 8th Vie et Action Congress, in Tours,
France translated from German as published in Flax Oil as a True Aid Against
Arthritis, Heart Infarction, Cancer and Other Diseases, Dr. Johanna Budwig,
Apple Publishing Company, Vancouver, British Colombia Canada, 1992.

the most sacred spots to walk. The Pythagorean Sourcebook and Library, Kenneth Sylvan
Guthrie, translator and compiler.
In the sacred groves they gathered around the master or his interpreters and the lesson was
conducted in the cool shade of the tall trees. Edouard Schure, The Ancient Mysteries of
Delphi, Pythagoras

The Hebrews and Christians were the only ones to ever destroy the sacred
groves of their neighbors. Nowadays the global economy polluted with JudeoChristian anti-humanist notions has nearly cut down the Sacred Groves planted
by Mother Nature the old growth forests of the world. Dr. Budwig explains
scientifically and lucidly the chilling details of how we have generated the
diseased backward-looking anti-human of the twentieth century:
It is interesting that in the science of physics the concept of "anti-human" has already been
coined. It is man, with the highest accumulation of photons, always striving toward the future, who
possesses within himself the highest potency of solar energy on the earth. The mirror image of
this human being electron-poor, photon-poor, and directed into the past expresses,
physically speaking, the image of the "anti-human."
Anti-human and radiation damage are new concepts that follow from modern physics. The
physicists project from mathematical equations that man, with his wealth of electrons, is directed
forwards in time. As we heard before, the photon speeds with time; it has, so to speak, eternal
life. Mathematical equations representing comprehensive interrelationships in physics can be
altered, while still remaining mathematically correct, so that time is directed backwards, instead of
forwards. One only has to give the time quotient of the equation a negative sign. Remember
that this is possible while retaining the integrity of the mathematical laws. It follows that for many
physical particles, there exists a corresponding anti-particle.
Using mathematical equations that are valid in physics, reversing the time quotient represents the
mirror image of man the anti-human, whereas man represents the picture of highest rank in
terms of physics, i.e. directed against entropy, the anti-human, according to the equation of
physics, is electron-poor. The anti-human is directed back in time. The anti-human
possesses few solar energy photons, a low rank, in physical terms.
The physical processes which are generated through the use of X-rays, gamma rays, atom
bombs, or cobalt radiation, are pointed in the same direction as the development toward the antihuman, from the perspective of physics and mathematics. The electron structure of the life
functions is destroyed by these rays. According to the so-called World Line and the Theory of
Relativity of modern physics, time and space are connected together in one equation. The antihuman is directed into the past. The inner structure of man with its interchange between solar
energy photons and the treasure house of electron s, with its concentration of photons in life
processes, with the dynamic of life functions based on solar energy, is directed into the future.
This forward-directed human being can develop dynamic energy. The anti-human, electronpoor, directed into the past also in his thinking is paralyzed in his life functions, lacks energy
and strength because he is missing the electrons that are in harmony with the sun as lifeelement.

23[2] Emphasis added.

It is very interesting to investigate our food from this perspective. Fats that have had their
electron structure destroyed to make them keep longer they normally attract oxygen have a
very detrimental effect on the future-directed, electron-rich human being, according to the World
Line diagram. Fats that have had their electron structure destroyed, promote the development of
the anti-human, within space and time. Fats that disturb the electron exchange within living
tissue because they, like tar, act as insulators against electrical conductivity, plainly deaden the
life functions at the respective operative locations, e.g. in organs, and in growth centers of the
body, as well as throughout the whole body.
Tars were among the first ingredients that were known to cause cancer. What is cancer? Every
significant circumstance in the world of elementary particles that promotes the development
toward the anti-human, also promotes cancer. A high component of slow particles from the
world of elementary particles in our food food that has been robbed of its wealth of electrons
promotes the development toward the anti-human. they promote the emergence of cancer.
For example, solidified fats belong to this category. These are electron-poor. They behave like
tar, as insulators relative to the transport of electrons in living tissue. Electron-rich nutrition,
electron-rich highly unsaturated oils, natural aromatics from herbs and spices, fruits which are
rich in aromatics and natural color components that correspond to the colors of the photon s of
sunlight all these increase the absorption, storage and utilization of the suns energy.1[2]
...After I have treated patients, and these patients then lie in the sun, they notice that they feel
much better rejuvenated. On the other hand, nowadays we frequently observe that the heart
fails on sunny beaches, and not infrequently heart attacks occur. We can observe both: some
individuals in our times experiencing stress from exposure to the suns energy, whereas others
respond with dynamic improvement in all vital functions. The stimulating effect that sunshine has
on the secretions of the liver, gall bladder, pancreas, bladder, and salivary glands is easy to
observe. These organs only dry out upon exposure to sunshine when the substances that
stimulate secretions are missing. The decisive factor in all these observations is whether the
surface-active, electron-rich, highly unsaturated fats are present as a resonating system for
solar energy, or if they are missing. The doctor tells cancer patients to avoid the sun; that they
cant tolerate the sun. That is correct. As soon as these patients also cancer patients were
placed on my Oil-Protein diet for just 2-3 days, i.e. a diet that contains an abundant supply of
essential fats, they were able to tolerate the sun very well. Yes, they emphasize how well they
suddenly feel in the sun, how the life forces are stimulated and that they feel dynamically
energized. Dr. Johanna Budwig , The Fat-Syndrome and the Photons of Solar Energy

The High Priests of Commerce

Like prophets in ages past, Dr. Budwigs revelation of Truth threatened the
ambitions of the high priests. In her case the high priests of Commerce
controlling Science for Profit. Dr. Budwig ran afoul of the powerful corporations
that process food oils when she discovered that fatty substances in soft tumors
contained polymerized fats of marine animal origin. These polymers are formed
when highly unsaturated fish and whale oils are heated to very high
temperatures. She knew these oils were used to make margarine, a partially
hydrogenated fat that cannot be made without high temperatures.
The director of the institute where she worked had financial interests in
margarine and held patents on its manufacture including the hydrogenation
processes that produced the toxic polymers she had found in tumors. He was
afraid her discoveries would ruin margarine sales. He offered her money and
ownership of a drugstore to keep her quiet. But Dr. Budwig refused to be bribed

and in her official capacity made public statements warning people of the
possible health hazards from consuming margarine.
Access to her laboratory was cut off. She was prevented from using research
facilities at other institutes, and she could not get anymore of her papers
published in the fat research journals. This was astonishing because she had
worked in collaboration with several hospitals, plus she held a high government
post. It was her official responsibility to monitor the effects of drugs and
processed foods on health.
Dr. Budwig courageously fulfilled her public duty in the face of FOC (Food Oil
Companies) opposition and threats to her career. She left the government
position in 1953 and opened the clinic where she has successfully treated cancer
patients by nutritional therapy. Because this great woman was blackballed by
FOC greed, EFA research has been slowed for over thirty years. Current
investigations are merely following in her footsteps.
The Life Force and Linoleic Acid
The special relationship between photons, electrons and EFAs described by Dr.
Budwig is due to the amazing molecular structures of LA (cis- linoleic acid), LNA
(cis- linolenic acid), and other even more highly unsaturated oils manufactured
from them within the human body. Plants have enzymes capable of inserting cis
double bonds starting at the third carbon atom on a fatty acid carbon chain.
Human enzymes can make double bonds starting at the ninth carbon atom only.
If the fatty acid has more than one double bonded carbon pair it is
polyunsaturated. LA has two unsaturated pairs in its 18-carbon chain. LNA has
three unsaturated pairs in its 18-carbon chain. Naturally unsaturated fatty acids
made by plants have their double bonds three carbon atoms apart.
These unsaturated bonds cause the normally straight line shape of the carbon
chain to bend at the double bonded pair because nature always removes the
hydrogen atoms from the same side of the fatty acid molecule. This greatly
changes the fatty acids physical and chemical characteristics. Biochemists call
this cis- configuration. The bent structure keeps the EFAs from dissolving into
each other. They are slippery, not sticky like the SFAs (saturated fatty acids,
e.g., butter, lard, coconut oil), and they are liquid at body temperature. EFAs
possess a slightly negative charge and have a tendency to form very thin surface
layers. This property is called surface activity, and it provides the power to carry
substances like toxins to the surface of the skin, intestinal tract, kidneys and
lungs where they can be removed. EFA surface activity also helps disperse
materials which react with or dissolve into the EFAs. Essential cis- unsaturated
fatty acids do not clog arteries like SFAs.
The cis- configuration allows de-localized electron clouds (pi-electrons) to form in
the bend produced on the chain. The resulting electrostatic force enables the

EFAs to capture oxygen molecules and hold proteins within

cell membranes. And because of the pi-electron clouds in
the cis- bonds, EFAs are able to form phase boundary
electrical potentials between the water inside and outside of
cells, and the oils within the cell membranes. Like static
electricity in a capacitor these charges can produce
measurable bioelectric currents essential to nerve, muscle,
heart and membrane functions. EFAs are extremely
important to the bodys overall energy exchange potential
the flow of lifeforce.
LA , LNA and the highly unsaturated fatty acids the human
body makes from them are necessary in the most active energy and electron
exchanging and oxygen requiring tissues; especially the brain, retina, inner ear,
adrenal and testicular tissues. They carry the high energy required by the most
active tissues, and ensure very high oxygen availability to them. Lifeforce travels
through the body via the essential fatty acids and their derivatives.

Unlike sticky saturated fats (and trans- fats which result from subjecting polyunsaturated fats to high heat during refining processes), the molecular structure
of EFAs is curved and slippery. This cis- configuration allows them to produce
life energy from food and carry that energy throughout the body. LA , LNA and
the highly unsaturated fats the body makes from them carry the high energy
required by the most active tissues. Lifeforce travels through the body via these
essential fatty acids and their derivatives.
Over half the oil found in dark green plant leaves is linolenic acid (green leaves
contain one percent or less oil). It is even more concentrated in the membranes
of the chloroplasts where photosynthesis takes place. The pi-electron s
transform the solar energy into chemical energy and LNA transports that energy
wherever it is needed.
The forward looking human of the New Golden Age will be a consumer of highly
unsaturated oils cold pressed from fresh seeds. Marijuana-hemp seeds provide
the ratio of LA to LNA that is the closest to the ideal requirement for the human
body, about three times more LA than LNA . Hempseed oils can reduce fatclogging in arteries of the sluggish anti-humans and at the same time increase
electron cloud densities in these unfortunate and sometimes mean spirited
wretches. An increase in pi-electron cloud density means an increase in vital
energy that is necessary for superior mental function and essential for
manifestation of a bright mind looking forward to a bright new future.
The Alchemy of DNA

Throughout the ages the sages and prophets have described God and Mind as a
cloud. The trinity of body, spirit and soul is a religious union in God. The trinity
of matter, energy and mind is a philosophical union in Man. Both have been
studied by the alchemists. This trinity of electron, photon and pi-cloud is a
material union manifest as lifeforce that is a manifestation of Mind and God.
Electrons can absorb and release energy as photons when energy flux passes
through them. In the pi-electron cloud flux photons are emitted and re-absorbed
constantly as bioelectric and biomagnetic currents course through the nervous
and circulatory system. The chaotic flow of photon emergence and absorption is
tantamount to the light of mind unfocused. When the light of mind becomes
meaningful then revelation of ideas proceeds to focus the chaotic flow of photons
into functional mathematical relationships. The sages frequently used the
analogy of the fire or light of God pulsing through the cloud of knowing in the
world-soul as giving rise to All. This trinity of being in existence was a source of
profound inspiration to the Pagan prophets and philosophers.
To the Neoplatonist Plotinus, the world-soul is the energy of the intellect. He compares the One,
the primordial creative principle, with light, the intellect with the sun, and the world-soul with the
moon. The One, designated as Uranos, is transcendent; the Son (Kronos) has dominion over the
visible world; and the world-soul is subordinate to him. The One, or ousia of existence in totality,
is described by Plotinus as hypostatic, and so are the three forms of emanations: thus we have
one being in three hypostases. According to Plotinus, the world-soul has a tendency towards
separation and divisibility, the sine qua non of all change, creation, and reproduction. It is an
unending All of life and wholly energy; a living organism of ideas which only become effective
and real in it. The intellect is its progenitor and father, and what the intellect conceives
the world-soul brings to birth in reality. What lies enclosed in the intellect comes to birth in the
world-soul as Logos, fills it with meaning and makes it drunken as if with nectar. Nectar, like
soma, is the drink of fertility and immortality. C.G. Jung, Symbols of Transformation24[3]

Certainly DNA is the blueprint of living molecular organization. It is protected

inside a nuclear membrane inside every cell which, in turn, is protected by its
own cell wall, and all healthy membranes are rich in essential lipids containing pielectron clouds. Whether DNA sends an RNA messenger to initiate functioning
depends upon the quality of vitality in all feedback systems in the youniverse of
the human being in the universe of the human body. And the quality of energy
feeding back to the DNA is dependent upon the density and vibratory energy in
the chain of pi-electron clouds throughout the system. So in this system DNA is
like the essential body, from which the whole organism can be built, and the life
force coursing through the pi-clouds is the energy-spirit that operates it.
Since the most highly unsaturated fatty acids are located in the brain and
nervous system, there we find the highest density of pi-electron cloud flux, and in
the cloud flux, the brain generates mind. Mysteriously, mind, which cannot be

24[3] Carl G. Jung quoting and paraphrasing from Plotinus Enneads, II, III, and IV
in Symbols of Transformation, p. 138.

measured directly by any scientific devices to date, acts upon the nervous
system moving the living body to work against entropy toward its own goals.
Those goals are manifest as ideas and images in the mind. And what are ideas
and images in the mind but meaningful light revealing possibilities erupting from
the super-unknown. The revelation of ideas erupting from the super-unknown
into the mind of one can be conveyed to other minds. Each mind awakened to
the revelation of ideas can further convey revelation and ideas to still others.
And each mind acting and reacting to revelation and ideas is itself part of a
neural net of minds collectively and individually manifesting the super-conscious
Mind of God. In the New Golden Age the youniverse of mind in the body of
Man will unite with the youniversal Mind of God in the body of the universe.
The development of scientific and technical knowledge has been essential to the
greater understanding of the phenomenal universe. This advancement of
knowledge about the operations of the universe has lead to reformations of
previous religious ideas as humanity evolves toward the golden age when union
with the godhead becomes an every day event in the lives of forward looking
humanity. Revelation of ideas within the cloud of knowing in a mind rich in pielectron cloud flux connects that individual with divine gnosis in the transcendent
youniversal Mind.
If the revelation of ideas is not happening from within because the cloud of
knowing is vapid from an inadequate flux of pi-electron cloud energy, then the
revelation of ideas has to be conveyed by those in the cloud of knowing. The
dim ones must accept revelation on faith or some justification employing reason
or logic. Still, it is easier for the dim ones to repeat in comfort the rhetoric of the
past as orthodox tradition until their own mind clouds are invigorated by
nutritional therapy with EFAs obtained from seed oils, especially marijuana-hemp
seed oils.
Inertia, one of the manifestations of universal entropy, is difficult to overcome.
When the mind has been dimmed because cis-polyunsaturate d fatty acids are
lacking in the brain, new ideas can be seen as offensive because the change
involved may require more energy than is available to neutralize the mental
inertia. For instance, the United States government has been allowing the import
of hemp seeds as long as they were steam sterilized at 212 F to prevent the
possibility of sprouting. That temperature does not ruin the EFAs though it does
somewhat uncoil the highly nutritious edistin protein in the seeds. Now that
hempseed consumption has increased dramatically in the U.S., the federal
government has decreed that the seeds must be dry heated to over 300 F.
causing the EFAs to denature and become toxic.
The anti-humans in charge cannot accept the truth that marijuana seeds are the
most nutritious single food source on earth for humans. They cannot accept the
validity of spiritual revelations initiated in humans by the religious use of
marijuana for fear it might conflict with their position in the orthodox social

hierarchy. They uphold and enforce ignorant mistakes made in the past that
keep them focused on the past, and they are unwilling to make the changes in
habits that are killing one out of every three of them as well as the rest of
Americans with heart disease and cancers directly or indirectly attributable to
consumption of fats altered by high heat.25[4] Since they see no reason to stop
their own slow deaths on the trail of anti-human degenerative pathology, they feel
no remorse forcing others off the highway of individual health and revelation
leading into the new Golden Age.
This information about vitality and hempseed nutrition has been circulated within
the counterculture for about five years now. Its general acceptance there has
caused a dramatic increase in demand for hempseed foods for human dietary
consumption. A bright mind is contagious, and healthy living is universally
admirable. Those already tasting the benefits of Golden Age vitality are not
willing to dim out with the anti-humans. Fortunately as current events indicate
most stuck on the loway of anti-human devolution and degenerative disease
want to change directions for the highway of genuine vitality and wholeness.

FOOTNOTES
26[1] A lecture held on April 6, 1972, at the 8th Vie et Action Congress, in Tours,
France translated from German as published in Flax Oil as a True Aid Against
Arthritis, Heart Infarction, Cancer and Other Diseases, Dr. Johanna Budwig,
Apple Publishing Company, Vancouver, British Colombia Canada, 1992.
27[2] Emphasis added.
28[3] Carl G. Jung quoting and paraphrasing from Plotinus Enneads, II, III, and IV
in Symbols of Transformation, p. 138.
29[4] For more details on this subject see Fats and Oils, The Complete Guide to
Fats and Oils in Health and Nutrition, by Udo Erasmus, Alive Books, Burnaby,
BC, Canada.

The Seven Day Mental Diet

by Emmet Fox
The subject of diet is one of the foremost topics of the present day in public
interest. Newspapers and magazines teem with articles on the subject. The
counters of the bookshops are filled with volumes unfolding the mysteries of
proteins, starches, vitamins, and so forth. dust now the whole world is foodconscious. Experts on the subject are saying that physically you become the
thing that you eat that your whole body is really composed of the food that you
have eaten in the past. What you eat today, they say, will be in your bloodstream
after the lapse of so many hours, and it is your blood-stream that builds all the
tissues composing your body and there you are. Of course, no sensible
person has any quarrel with all this. It is perfectly true, as far as it goes, and the
only surprising thing is that it has taken the world so long to find it out; but in this
article I am going to deal with the subject of dieting at a level that is infinitely
more profound and far-reaching in its effects. I refer of course to mental dieting.
The most important of all factors in your life is the mental diet on which you live. It
is the food which you furnish to your mind that determines the whole character of
your life. It is the thoughts you allow yourself to think, the subjects that you allow
your mind to dwell upon, which make you and your surroundings what they are.
As thy days, so shall thy strength be. Everything in your life today the state of
your body, whether healthy or sick, the state of your fortune, whether prosperous
or impoverished', the state of your home, whether happy or the reverse, the
present condition of every phase of your life in fact is entirely conditioned by
the thoughts and feelings which you have entertained in the past, by the habitual
tone of your past thinking. And the condition of your life tomorrow, and next
week, and next year, will be entirely conditioned by the thoughts and feelings
which you choose to entertain from now onwards.
In other words, you choose your life, that is to say, you choose all the conditions
of your life, when you choose the thoughts upon which you allow your mind to
dwell. Thought is the real causative force in life, and there is no other. You
cannot have one kind of mind and another kind of environment. This means that
you cannot change your environment while leaving your mind unchanged, nor
and this is the supreme key to life and the reason for this article can you
change your mind without your environment changing too.
This then is the real key to life: if you change your mind your conditions must
change too. Your body must change, your daily work or other activities must
change; your home must change; the color-tone of your whole life must change,
for whether you be habitually happy and cheerful, or low-spirited and fearful,
depends entirely on the quality of the mental food upon which you diet yourself.
Please be very clear about this. If you change your mind your conditions must
change too. We are transformed by the renewing of our minds. So now you will
see that your mental diet is really the most important thing in your whole life.

This may be called the Great Cosmic Law, and its truth is seen to be perfectly
obvious when once it is clearly stated in this way. In fact, I do not know of any
thoughtful person who denies its essential truth. The practical difficulty in
applying it, however, arises from the fact that our thoughts are so close to us that
it is difficult, without a little practice, to stand back as it were and look at them
objectively. Yet that is just what you must learn to do.
You must train yourself to choose the subject of your thinking at any given time,
and also to choose the emotional tone, or what we call the mood that colors it.
Yes, you can choose your moods. Indeed, if you could not you would have no
real control over your life at all. Moods habitually entertained produce the
characteristic disposition of the person concerned, and it is his disposition that
finally makes or mars a person's happiness.
You cannot be healthy; you cannot be happy; you cannot be prosperous; if you
have a bad disposition. If you are sulky, or surly, or cynical, or depressed, or
superior, or frightened half out of your wits, your life cannot possibly be worth
living. Unless you are determined to cultivate a good disposition, you may as well
give up all hope of getting anything worth while out of life, and it is kinder to tell
you very plainly that this is the case. If you are not determined to start in now and
carefully select all day the kind of thoughts that you are going to think, you may
as well give up all hope of shaping your life into the kind of thing that you want it
to be, because this is the only way.
In short, if you want to make your life happy and worth while, which is what God
wishes you to make it, you must begin immediately' to train yourself in the habit
of thought selection and thought control. This will be exceedingly difficult for the
first few days, but if you persevere you will find that it will become rapidly easier,
and it is actually the most interesting experiment that you could possibly make. in
fact, this thought control is the most thrillingly inter' interesting hobby that anyone
could take up. You will be amazed at the interesting things that you will learn
about yourself, and you will get results almost from the beginning.
Now many people knowing this truth, make sporadic efforts from time to time to
control their thoughts, but the thought stream being so close, as I have pointed
out, and the impacts from outside so constant and varied, they do not make very
much progress. That is not the way to work. Your only chance is definitely to form
a new habit of thought which will carry you through when you are preoccupied or
off your guard as well as when you are con' consciously attending to the
business. This new thought habit must be definitely acquired, and the foundation
of it can be laid within a few days, and the way to do it is this:
Make up your mind to devote one week solely to the task of building a new habit
of thought, and during that week let everything in life be unimportant as
compared with that. If you will do so, then that week will be the most significant
week in your whole life. It will literally be the turning' point for you. If you will do

so, it is safe to say that your whole life will change for the better. In fact, nothing
can possibly remain the same. This does not simply mean that you will be able to
face your present difficulties in a better spirit; it means that the difficulties will go.
This is the scientific way to Alter Your Life, and being in accordance with the
Great Law it cannot fail. Now do you realize that by working in this way you do
not have to change conditions What happens is that you apply the Law, and then
the conditions change spontaneously. You cannot change conditions directly
you have often tried to do so and failed but go on the SEVEN DAY MENTAL
DIET and conditions must change for you.
This then is your prescription. For seven days you must not allow yourself to
dwell for a single moment on any kind of negative thought. You must watch
yourself for a whole week as a cat watches a mouse, and you must not under
any pretense allow your mind to dwell on any thought that is not positive,
constructive, optimistic, kind. This discipline will be so strenuous that you could
not maintain it consciously for much more than a week, bur I do not ask you to do
so. A week will be enough, because by that time the habit of positive thinking will
begin to be established. Some extraordinary changes for the better will have
come into your life, encouraging you enormously, and then the future will take
care of itself. The new way of life will be so attractive and so much easier than
the old way that you will find your mentality aligning itself almost automatically.
But the seven days are going to be strenuous'. I would not have you enter upon
this without counting the cost. Mere physical fasting would be child's play in
comparison, even if you have a very good appetite. The most exhausting form of
army gymnastics, combined with thirty mile route marches, would be mild in
comparison with this undertaking. But it is only for one week in your life, and it
will definitely alter every' thing for the better. For the rest of your life here, for all
eternity in fact, things will be utterly different and inconceivably better than if you
had not carried through this undertaking.
Do not start it lightly. Think about it for a day or two before you begin. Then start
in, and the grace of God go with you. You may start it any day in the week, and
at any time in the day, first thing in the morning, or after breakfast, or after lunch,
it does not matter, but once you do start you must go right through for the seven
days. That is essential. The whole idea is to have seven days of unbroken mental
discipline in order to get the mind definitely bent in a new direction once and for
all.
If you make a false start, or even if you go on well for two or three days and then
for any reason "fall off" the diet, the thing to do is to drop the scheme altogether
for several days, and then to start again afresh. There must be no jumping on
and off, as it were. You remember that Rip Van Winkle in the play would take a
solemn vow of teetotalism, and then promptly accept a drink from the first
neighbor who offered him one, saying calmly: "I won't count this one. Well, on the
SEVEN DAY MENTAL DIET this sort of thing simply will not do. You must

positively count every lapse, and whether you do or not, Nature will. Where there
is a lapse you must go off the diet altogether and then start again.
Now, in order, if possible, to forestall difficulties, I will consider them in a little
detail.
First of all, what do I mean by negative thinking? Well, a negative thought is any
thought of failure, disappointment, or trouble; any thought of criticism, or spite, or
jealousy, or condemnation of others, or self-condemnation; any thought of
sickness or accident; or, in short, any kind of limitation or pessimistic thinking.
Any thought that is not positive and constructive in character, whether it concerns
you yourself or anyone else, is a negative thought. Do not bother too much about
the question of classification, however; in practice you will never have any trouble
in knowing whether a given thought is positive or negative. Even if your brain
tries to deceive you, your heart will whisper the truth.
Second, you must be quite clear that what this scheme calls for is that you shall
not entertain, or dwell upon negative things. Note this carefully. It is not the
thoughts that come to you that matter, but only such of them as you choose to
entertain and dwell upon. It does not matter what thoughts may come to you
provided you do not entertain them. It is the entertaining or dwelling upon them
that matters. Of course, many negative thoughts 'will come to you all day long.
Some of them will just drift into your mind of their own accord seemingly, and
these come to you out of the race mind. Other negative thoughts will be given to
you by other people, either in conversation or by their conduct, or you will hear
disagreeable news perhaps by letter or telephone, or you will see crimes and
disasters announced in the newspaper headings. These things, however, do not
matter as long as you do not entertain them. In fact, it is these very things that
provide the discipline that is going to transform you during this epoch-making
week. The thing to do is, directly the negative thought presents itself turn it
out. Turn away from the newspaper; turn out the thought of the unkind letter, or
stupid remark, or what not. When the negative thought floats into your mind,
immediately turn it out and think of something else. Best of all, think of God as
explained in The Golden Key. A perfect analogy is furnished by the case of a
man who is sitting by an open fire when a red hot cinder flies out and falls on his
sleeve. If he knocks that cinder off at once, w without a moment's delay to think
about it, no harm is done. But if he allows it to rest on him for a single moment,
under any pretense, the mischief is done, and it will be a troublesome task to
repair that sleeve. So it is with a negative thought.
Now what of those negative thoughts and conditions which it is impossible to
avoid at the point where you are today? What of the ordinary troubles that you
will have to meet in the office or at home? The answer is, that such things will not
affect your diet provided that you do not accept them, by fearing them, by
believing them, by being indignant or sad about them, or by giving them any
power at all. Any negative condition that duty compels you to handle will not

affect your diet. Go to the office, or meet the cares at home, without allowing
them to affect you. (None of these things move me), and all will be well. Suppose
that you are lunching with a friend who talks negatively do not try to shut him
up or otherwise snub him. Let him talk, but do nor accept what he says, and your
diet will not be affected. Suppose that on coming home you are greeted with a lot
of negative conversation do not preach a sermon, but simply do not accept it.
It is your mental consent, remember, that constitutes your diet. Suppose you
witness an accident or an act of injustice let us say instead of reacting with
pity or indignation, refuse to accept the appearance at its face value; do anything
that you can to right matters, give it the right thought, and let it go at that. You will
still be on the diet.
Of course, it will be very helpful if you can take steps to avoid meeting during this
week anyone who seems particularly likely to arouse the devil in you. People
who get on your nerves, or rub you up the wrong way, or bore you, are better
avoided while you are on the diet; but if it is not possible to avoid them, then you
must take a little extra discipline that is all.
Suppose that you have a particularly trying ordeal before you next week. Well, if
you have enough spiritual understanding you will know how to meet that in the
spiritual' way; but, for our present purpose, I think I would wait and start the diet
as soon as the ordeal is over. As I said before, do not take up the diet lightly, but
think it over well first.
In closing, I want to tell you that people often find that the starting of this diet
seems to stir up all sorts of difficulties. It seems as though everything begins to
go wrong at once. This may be disconcerting, but it is really a good sign. It
means that things are moving; and is not that the very object we have in view?
Suppose your whole world seems to rock on its foundations. Hold on steadily, let
it rock, and when the rocking is over, the picture will have reassembled itself into
something much nearer to your heart's desire.
The above point is vitally important and rather subtle. Do you not see that the
very dwelling upon these difficulties is in itself a negative thought which has
probably thrown you off the diet? The remedy is not, of course, to deny that your
world is rocking in appearance, but to refuse to take the appearance for the
reality. Judge not according to appearances but judge righteous judgment.
A closing word of caution: Do not tell anyone else that you are on the diet, or that
you intend to go on it. Keep this tremendous project strictly to yourself.
Remember that your soul should be the Secret Place of the Most High. When
you have come through the seven days successfully, and secured your
demonstration, allow a reasonable' time to elapse to establish the new mentality,
and then tell the story to anyone else who you think is likely to be helped by it.
And, finally, remember that nothing said or done by anyone else can possibly

throw you off the diet. Only your own reaction to the other person's conduct can
do that.

Smaragdina

Interpretation of Tabula Smaragdina (by Dennis William Hauck)

Artist Matthieu Merian undertook a very special project when he began a meticulous engraving
for inclusion in Daniel Mylius Opus Medico-Chymicum, which was published in 1618. Merian
titled his work Tabula Smaragdina, which is the Latin for "Emerald Tablet," and his goal was to
incorporate all the truths contained in the Emerald Tablet in one awe-inspiring vision. This
beautiful work shows in dramatic detail the birth of the Philosophers Stone as it leaves heaven
and enters earth. The picture immediately became one of dozens of symbolic mandalas which
alchemists used for meditation, and many medieval alchemists sat staring at this drawing for
hours trying to absorb its power.
The first thing that strikes one about the picture is its obvious division into the Above and the
Below, and the sharp line between the two indicates that these are very different realms. Above,
the larger Sun of the One Mind, whose rays encompass the whole universe, rises behind the Sun
of Heaven or what Hermes called "Mind the Maker." This intermediate Sun is dominated by
twenty-nine cherubs or archetypal forces. In numerology, the number twenty-nine is equivalent to

the number two, thus signifying the embryonic division of the One Mind to create Mind the Maker,
which carries on the primary creation through the "crystallized thoughts of God" -- the archetypes.
The three solar presences floating amongst the angels represent the three heavenly elements
expressed as the Holy Trinity: Sulfur (the Tetragrammaton of Jehovah the Father at the center),
Mercury (the Son, the sacrificial Lamb of God), and Salt (the Dove or Holy Ghost hidden in
matter). In the generic terms of the Emerald Tablet, this trinity is made up of the One Mind, the
Process of Transformation, and the primal One Thing.
The Below is divided into the daytime (solar) left side of the drawing and the nighttime (lunar)
right side. At the very bottom of the page, one can find the purified Four Elements sealed inside
glass balls carried by two different birds. On the left, Fire and Air are under the outstretched
wings of the Phoenix, a bird of myth and imagination that rose from the ashes of fire to be reborn,
giving it dominion over the spheres of Fire and Air. On the right, Water and Earth are held in the
wings of a real bird, the Aquilla or Eagle, who has dominion over the spheres of Water and Earth.
Thus the rising elements of Fire and Air represent spiritual or psychological processes, whereas
the sinking elements of Water and Earth are physical or bodily processes.
The left or solar side of the engraving represents the process of Calcination. At the bottom left
corner is a lion standing upright like a man. Known to alchemists as the Red Lion, he symbolizes
the fiery, masculine energy of the Work. Behind him, it is daylight and trees and a village can be
seen. The lion is wearing a collar of stars and represents the cosmic forces emanating from the
constellation of Leo, that figured so prominently in Egyptian religion and is the inspiration for the
Sphinx, which symbolizes the astrological Age of Leo. Leos right foot rests on top of a sevenrayed sun, while his other foot is supported by the wing of the Phoenix. Leo is presenting a naked
man with a thirteen-rayed Sun, symbol of the Hermetic Mysteries, said to be revealed to mankind
over 10,000 years ago. The man is Sol, who represents the masculine component of nature and
personality. Sols genitals are covered by a small sun, as is his right breast, though his other
breast is covered by the crescent moon which is the seed of the feminine in all men. His right foot
is on the wing of the Phoenix and his left foot rests on a seven-rayed Sun identical to the one on
which Leo stands. These seven rays are the seven steps of enlightenment that make up the
Emerald Formula. Sol is chained by his left hand to the Clouds of Unknowing, which keep us from
experiencing the splendor Above.
The right or lunar side of the engraving represents the process of Dissolution. In the bottom right
corner can be seen a stag standing upright like a man. Known to alchemists as the "Fugitive
Stag," he is a symbol of the volatile, feminine, watery energy of the Work. He has a twelvepointed rack of antlers, and each antler has a star over it, representing the influences of the
zodiac. In mythology, this is Acteon, the mythical hunter who was turned into a stag for admiring
the nude Artemis while she was bathing in a pond. Artemis was the Greek goddess of nature and
fertility who later was worshipped by the Romans as Diana. In both incarnations, the goddess
stood for the deep creative and curative powers of the subconscious mind and nature. The left
foot of her stag is planted firmly on the earth, while his right foot rests on the wing of the Eagle. In
his left hand is a three-leaf clover, representing the three heavenly forces expressed in nature,
and in his other hand is the Moon, which he is passing on to a naked woman. Known as Luna,
the naked woman is the feminine component of ones personality. Her genitals are covered by a
crescent moon, as is her left breast, but her right breast is a small seven-rayed sun -- the active
though intuitive force within women -- from which streams a shower of stars (the Milky Way) that
is immediately grounded and absorbed directly into the earth. Luna straddles over the Hermetic
River with one foot in the water and the other on the right wing of the Eagle. Behind her is a night
scene in which the outlines of trees, valleys, and mountains can be discerned. In her left hand
she holds a bunch of grapes, a symbol of sacrifice, and her right hand is chained to the Clouds of
Unknowing.
In the center of the Below, a hermaphroditic alchemist holds up two starry hatchets, which
represent the higher faculty of discernment and the powers of Separation. The alchemist has cut

the chains of unknowing that tied Sol and Luna to their duality and balanced the powerful forces
of their sexual attraction. He has seen through the Clouds of Unknowing, gained his freedom from
instinct, and realizes the powerful influences of the archetypal powers. The empowered alchemist
is symbolic of a successful Conjunction of the opposing forces to his left and right. Half of his
frock is black with white stars and the other half is white with black stars. In other words, each
side of his personality contains the seed of its opposite, so he has neither denied nor destroyed
the compelling powers of the opposites, only integrated them into his own being. The alchemist is
located on the side of a mountain and stands on two lions who have a single head. The lion on
the left is the Red Lion and the one on the right is the Green Lion. As shown by the Fire and
Water emerging from the mountain behind their tails, these two lions represent Sulfur and
Mercury, the alchemists soul and spirit, which unite to produce the Ferment, the precursor of the
Stone, symbolized by the thick substance flowing from the common mouth of the beasts. Thus
the alchemist himself represents the union of Fire and Water. This melding of rational with
irrational, reason and feeling, male and female, is a necessary part of any act of creation.
Directly behind the alchemist are three rows of plants that stand for the seven operations of
alchemy done three times to perfection. The first two rows contain six bushes that culminate in
the Tree of Gold at the summit of the mountain. Each bush is marked with alchemical signs for
metallic compounds. Behind these bushes is a semicircle of tress, each marked with a symbol for
one of the pure metals. At the top of the mountain, the Clouds of Unknowing part and the powers
Above touch the top of the tree with the sign for gold. This is the act of Fermentation, the
penetration of the purified essence by forces from Above. A line drawn from the Ferment Below
(flowing from the common mouth of the two lions) to the name of God Above divides the
engraving in half and bisects the alchemist through the middle of his being. That line, which is the
Cosmic Axis or vertical axis of reality, connects him through the Tree of Gold and central Stone
directly to God. It travels through all three realms, starting in the Physical Realm, transecting the
psychological processes of the Realm of Soul, and reaching the highest point in the Realm of
Spirit.
The first area encountered as the alchemist travels along this vertical axis is a Ring of Stars in
which seven larger stars predominate. This stellar ring presents the seven alchemical operations
as cosmic principles available to sentient species everywhere. It is followed by a semicircle of five
scenes that lead to the Quintessence. This register of alchemical accomplishments is known as
the Ring of Planets, and each scene depicts the bird of spirit associated with one of the five
planetary bodies. From left to right: the Black Crow of Calcination (Saturn), the White Goose of
Dissolution (Jupiter), the Rooster of Conjunction (Earth), the Pelican of Distillation (Venus), and
finally, the Phoenix of Coagulation (Sun).
Above the Ring of Stars and the Ring of Planets, and partaking of all realms, is a central sphere
made up of seven concentric layers. These layers symbolize each of the Seven Steps of
Transformation that must be achieved or pealed away to reach the Stone, which is the innermost
sphere where a triangle is inscribed. Within the first sphere are the twelve signs of the zodiac.
These are personal and karmic archetypes of the personality that are burned away by the
intensified fires of existence in the operation the alchemists named Calcination. The second
sphere is inscribed with three Latin phrases meaning "Year of the Winds," "Year of the Sun," and
"Year of the Stars." These are the transpersonal archetypes resolved and released during the
long process of Dissolution. The third concentric sphere within the layered ball at the center of
this engraving describes the three kinds of Mercury (Common Mercury, Bodily Mercury, and
Philosophical Mercury). These are the essences of soul released in the previous two operations
and saved during the filtering process of Separation. The fourth sphere names the three kinds of
Sulfur (Combustible Sulfur, Fixed Sulfur, and Volatile or Ethereal Sulfur). These forces are the
driving spiritual passions of the Conjunction, in which the opposing parts of our personalities, the
Mercury and Sulfur of our being, are united in the common goal of transformation. The fifth inner
sphere refers to the Quintessence, the newly formed matter or Salt unveiled during Fermentation.
Inscribed in this sphere are the three types of Salt (Elementary Salt, Salt of the Earth, and the

Central Salt). The next and sixth sphere contains a message written in Latin which warns: "You
must find the four grades of Fire of the Work." As we have seen, these four grades refer to the
various states of consciousness that must be purified and united during Distillation, so they do not
contaminate the Work in its final stage.
The seventh and innermost sphere contains a central upward-pointing triangle of Fire, which
represents the sublimated state of distilled consciousness that is congealed Above. Within that
triangle is drawn the symbol for the exalted Mercury, the Monad or One Thing perfected, which is
the Stone. In the middle of the symbol is a single dot, the center of the entire engraving and
around which both heaven and earth revolve. It is the convergence point in our minds and
personalities where all things come together as one. To the left of the large triangle is a smaller
downward-pointing triangle representing Water or Mercury; to the right is a small upward-pointing
triangle representing Fire or Sulfur. Below the central triangle is the Star of David, which
symbolizes Salt, the union of Fire and Water, the permanent coming together of the Above and
the Below.
This wonderful engraving is a summary of how the Mercury of our spirits is exposed and purified
in the Work. United with the Sulfur of our souls, it undergoes Coagulation to form the Salt of the
Philosophers, the immortal, permanently enlightened, and wholly incarnated state of
consciousness known as the Stone. Like the concentric target that it forms at the very center of
this engraving, this is our perfected being and ultimate home.
- from THE EMERALD TABLET (Penguin 1999) by Dennis William Hauck

Turba Philosophorum

(Assembly of the Philosophers)

One of the most authoritative and oldest European alchemy texts, dating from the
twelfth century AD. It is organized into 72 Dictums.
The Epistle of Arisleus, prefixed to the Words of the Sages, concerning the Purport of this Book,
for the Benefit of Posterity, and the same being as here follows:
Arisleus, begotten of Pythagoras, a disciple of the disciples by the grace of thrice great Hermes,
learning from the seat of knowledge, unto all who come after wisheth health and mercy. I testify
that my master, Pythagoras, the Italian, master of the wise and chief of the Prophets, had a
greater gift of God and of Wisdom than was granted to any one after Hermes. Therefore he had a
mind to assemble his disciples, who were now greatly increased, and had been constituted the
chief persons throughout all regions for the discussion of this most precious Art, that their words
might be a foundation for posterity. He then commanded Iximidrus, of highest council, to be the
first speaker, who said:

The First Dictum.

Iximidrus Saith:- I testify that the beginning of all things is a Certain Nature, which is perpetual,
coequalling all things, and that the visible natures, with their births and decay, are times wherein
the ends to which that nature brings them are beheld and summoned. Now, I instruct you that the
stars are igneous, and are kept within bounds by the air. If the humidity and density of the air did

not exist to separate the flames of the sun from living things, then the Sun would consume all
creatures. But God has provided the separating air, lest that which He has created should be
burnt up. Do you not: observe that the Sun when it rises in the heaven overcomes the air by its
heat, and that the warmth penetrates from the upper to the lower parts of the air? If, then, the air
did not presently breathe forth those winds whereby creatures are generated, the Sun by its heat
would certainly destroy all that lives. But the Sun is kept in check by the air, which thus conquers
because it unites the heat of the Sun to its own heat, and the humidity of water to its own
humidity. Have you not remarked how tenuous water is drawn up into the air by the action of the
heat of the Sun, which thus helps the water against itself? If the water did not nourish the air by
such tenuous moisture, assuredly the Sun would overcome the air. The fire, therefore, extracts
moisture from the water, by means of which the air conquers the fire itself. Thus, fire and water
are enemies between which there is no consanguinity, for the fire is hot and dry, but the water is
cold and moist. The air, which is warm and moist, joins these together by its concording medium;
between the humidity of water and the heat of fire the air is thus placed to establish peace. rind
look ye all how there shall arise a spirit from the tenuous vapour of the air, because the heat
being joined to the humour, there necessarily issues something tenuous, which will become a
wind. For the heat of the Sun extracts something tenuous out of the air, which also becomes spirit
and life to all creatures. All this, however, is disposed in such manner by the will of God, and a
coruscation appears when the heat of the Sun touches and breaks up a cloud.
The Turba saith:- Well hast thou described the fire, even as thou knowest concerning it, and thou
hast believed the word of thy brother.
The Second Dictum.
Exumedrus saith:- I do magnify the air according to the mighty speech of Iximidrus, for the work is
improved thereby. The air is inspissated, and it is also made thin; it grows warm and becomes
cold. The inspissation thereof takes place when it is divided in heaven by the elongation of the
Sun; its rarefaction is when, by the exaltation of the Sun in heaven, the air becomes warm and is
rarefied. It is comparable with the complexion of Spring, in the distinction of time, which is neither
warm nor cold. For according to the mutation of the constituted disposition with the altering
distinctions of the soul, so is Winter altered. The air, therefore, is inspissated when the Sun is
removed from it, and then cold supervenes upon men.
Whereat the Turba said:- Excellently hast thou described the air, and given account of what thou
knowest to be therein.
The Third Dictum.
Anaxagoras saith:- I make known that the beginning of all those things which God hath created is
weight and proportion, for weight rules all things, and the weight and spissitude of the earth is
manifest in proportion; but weight is not found except in body. And know, all ye Turba, that the
spissitude of the four elements reposes in the earth; for the spissitude of fire falls into air, the
spissitude of air, together with the spissitude received from the fire, falls into water; the spissitude
also of water, increased by the spissitude of fire and air, reposes in earth. Have you not observed
how the spissitude of the four elements is conjoined in earth! The same, therefore, is more
inspissated than all.
Then saith the Turba:- Thou hast well spoken. Verily the earth is more inspissated than are the
rest. Which, therefore, is the most rare of the four elements and is most worthy to possess the
rarity of these four?

He answereth:- Fire is the most rare among all, and thereunto cometh what is rare of these four.
But air is less rare than fire, because it is warm and moist, while fire is warm and dry; now that
which is warm and dry is more rare than the warm and moist.
They say unto him:- The which element is of less rarity than air!
He answereth:- Water, since cold and moisture inhere therein, and every cold humid is of less
rarity than a warm humid.
Then do they say unto him:- Thou hast spoken truly. What, therefore, is of less rarity than water?
He answereth:- Earth, because it is cold and dry, and that which is cold and dry is of less rarity
than that which is cold and moist.
Pythagoras saith:- Well have ye provided, O Sons of the Doctrine, the description of these four
natures, out of which God hath created all things. Blessed, therefore, is he who comprehends
what ye have declared, for from the apex of the world he shall not find an intention greater than
his own! Let us, therefore, make perfect our discourse.
They reply:- Direct every one to take up our speech in turn. Speak thou, O Pandolfus!
The Fourth Dictum.
But Pandolfus saith:- I signify to posterity that air is a tenuous matter of water, and that it is not:
separated from it. It remains above the dry earth, to wit, the air hidden in the water, which is
under the earth. If this air did not exist, the earth would not remain above the humid water.
They answer:- Thou hast said well; complete, therefore, thy speech.
But he continueth:- The air which is hidden in the water under the earth is that which sustains the
earth, lest it should be plunged into the said water; and it, moreover, prevents the earth from
being overflowed by that water. The province of the air is, therefore, to fill up and to make
separation between diverse things, that is to say, water and earth, and it is constituted a
peacemaker between hostile things, namely, water and fire, dividing these, lest they destroy one
another.
The Turba saith:- If you gave an illustration hereof, it would be clearer to those who do not
understand.
He answereth:- An egg is an illustration, for therein four things are conjoined; the visible cortex or
shell represents the earth, and the albumen, for white part, is the water. But a very thin inner
cortex is joined to the outer cortex, representing, as I have signified to you, the separating
medium between earth and water, namely, that air which divides the earth from the water. The
yolk also of the egg represents fire; the cortex which contains the yolk corresponds to that other
air which separates the water from the fire. But they are both one and the same air, namely, that
which separates things frigid, the earth from the water, and that which separates the water from
the fire. But the lower air is thicker than the upper air, and the upper air is more rare and subtle,
being nearer to the fire than the lower air. In the egg, therefore, are four things- earth, water, air,
and fire. But the point of the Sun, these four excepted, is in the centre of the yolk, and this is the
chicken. Consequently, all philosophers in this most excellent art have described the egg as an
example, which same thing they have set over their work.
The Fifth Dictum.

Arisleus saith:- Know that the earth is a hill and not a plain, for which reason the Sun does not
ascend over all the zones of the earth in a single hour; but if it were flat, the sun would rise in a
moment over the whole earth.
Parmenides saith:- Thou hast spoken briefly, O Arisleus!
He answereth: Is there anything the Master has left us which bears witness otherwise? Yet I
testify that God is one, having never engendered or been begotten, and that the head of all things
after Him is earth and fire, because fire is tenuous and light, and it rules all things on earth, but
the earth, being ponderous and gross, sustains all things which are ruled by fire.
The Sixth Dictum.
Lucas saith:- You speak only about four natures; and each one of you observes something
concerning these. Now, I testify unto you that all things which God hath created are from these
four natures, and the things which have been created out of them return into them, In these living
creatures are generated and die, and all things take place as God hath predestinated.
Democritus, the disciple of Lucas, answereth:- Thou hast well spoken, O Lucas, when dealing
with the four natures!
Then saith Arisleus:- O Democritus, since thy knowledge was derived from Lucas, it is
presumption to speak among those who are well acquainted with thy master!
Lucas answereth:- albeit Democritus received from me the science of natural things, that
knowledge was derived from the philosophers of the Indies and from the Babylonians; I think he
surpasses those of his own age in this learning.
The Turba answereth:- When he attains to that age he will give no small satisfaction, but being in
his youth he should keep silence.
The Seventh Dictum.
Lucusta saith:- All those creatures which have been described by Lucas are two only, of which
one is neither known nor expressed, except by piety, for it is not seen or felt.
Pythagoras saith:- Thou hast entered upon a subject which, if completed, thou wilt describe
subtly. State, therefore, what is this thing which is neither felt, seen, nor known.
Then he:- It is that which is not known, because in this world it is discerned by reason without the
clients thereof, which are sight, hearing, taste, smell, and touch. O Crowd of the Philosophers,
know you not that it Is only sight which can distinguish white from black, and hearing only which
can discriminate between a good and bad word! Similarly, a wholesome odour cannot be
separated by reason from one which is fetid, except through the sense of smell, nor can
sweetness be discriminated from bitterness save by means of taste, nor smooth from rough
unless by touch.
The Turba answereth:- Thou hast well spoken, yet hast thou omitted to treat of that particular
thing which is not known, or described, except by reason and piety.
Saith he:- Are ye then in such haste! Know that the creature which is cognised in none of these
five ways is a sublime creature, and, as such, is neither seen nor felt, but is perceived by reason
alone, of which reason Nature confesses that God is a partaker.

They answer:- Thou hast spoken truly and excellently.

And he:- I will now give a further explanation. Know that this creature, that is to say, the world,
hath a light, which is the Sun, and the same is more subtle than all other natures, which light is so
ordered that living beings may attain to vision. But if this subtle light were removed, they would
become darkened, seeing nothing, except the light of the moon, or of the stars, or of fire, all which
are derived from the light of the Sun, which causes all creatures to give light. For this God has
appointed the Sun to be the light of the world, by reason of the attenuated nature of the Sun. And
know that the sublime creature before mentioned has no need of the light of this Sun, because
the Sun is beneath that creature, which is more subtle and more lucid. This light, which is more
lucid than the light of the Sun, they have taken from the light of God, which is more subtle than
their light. Know also that the created world is composed of two dense things and two rare things,
but nothing of the dense is in the sublime creature. Consequently the Sun is rarer than all inferior
creatures.
The Turba answereth:- Thou hast excellently described what thou hast related. And if, good
Master, thou shalt utter anything whereby our hearts may be vivified, which now are mortified by
folly, thou wilt confer upon us a great boon!
The Eighth Dictum.
Pythagoras saith:- I affirm that God existed before all things, and with Him was nothing, as He
was at first. But know, all ye Philosophers, that I declare this in order that I may fortify your
opinion concerning these four elements and arcana, as well as in the sciences thereof, at which
no one can arrive save by the will of God. Understand, that when God was alone, He created four
things- fire, air, water, and earth, out of which things He afterwards created all others, both the
sublime and the inferior, because He predestinated from the beginning that all creatures
extracted from water should multiply and increase, that they might dwell in the world and perform
His judgments therein. Consequently, before all, He created the four elements, out of which He
afterwards created what He willed, that is to say, diverse creatures, some of which were
produced from a single element.
The Turba saith:- Which are these, O Master!
And he:- They are the angels, whom He created out of fire.
But the Turba:- Which, then, are created out of two?
And he:- Out of the elements of fire and air are the sun, moon, and stars composed. Hence the
angels are more lucid than the sun, moon, and stars, because they are created from one
substance, which is less dense than two, while the sun and the stars are created from a
composition of fire and air.
The Turba saith:- And what concerning the creation of Heaven?
Then he:- God created the Heaven out of water and air, whence this is also composed of two,
namely, the second of the rarer things, which is air, and the second of the denser things, which is
water.
And they:- Master, continue thy discourse concerning these three, and rejoice our hearts with thy
sayings, which are life to the dead.

But the other answereth:- I notify to you that God hath further made creatures out of three and out
of four; out of three are created flying things, beasts, and vegetables; some of these are created
out of water, air, and earth, some out of fire, air, and earth.
But the Turba saith:- Distinguish these divers creatures one from another.
And he:- Beasts are created out of fire, air, and earth; dying things out of fire, air, and water,
because flying things, and all among vegetables which have a spirit, are created out of water,
while all brute animals are from earth, air, and fire. Yet in vegetables there is no fire, for they are
created out of earth, water, and air.
Whereat the Turba saith:- Let us assume that a fire, with your reverence's pardon, does reside in
vegetables.
And he:- Ye have spoken the truth, and I affirm that they contain fire.
And they:- Whence is that fire?
He answereth:- Out of the heat of the air which is concealed therein; for I have signified that a thin
fire is present in the air, but the elementary fire concerning which you were in doubt is not
produced, except in things which have spirit and soul. But out of four elements our father Adam
and his sons were created, that is, of fire, air, water, and likewise earth. Understand, all ye that
are wise, how everything which God hath created out of one essence dies not until the Day of
Judgment. The definition of death is the disjunction of the composite, but there is no disjunction of
that which is simple, for it is one. Death consists in the separation of the soul from the body,
because anything formed out of two, three, or four components must disintegrate, and this is
death. Understand, further, that no complex substance which lacks fire eats, drinks, or sleeps,
because in all things which have a spirit fire is that which eats.
The Turba answereth:- How is it, Master, that the angels, being created of fire, do not eat, seeing
thou assertest that fire is that which eats!
And he: Hence ye doubt, each having his opinion, and ye are become opponents, but if ye truly
knew the elements, ye would not deny these things. I agree with all whose judgment it is that
simple fire eats not, but thick fire. The angels, therefore, are not created out of thick fire, but out of
the thinnest of very thin fire; being created, then, of that which is most simple and exceedingly
thin, they neither eat, drink, nor sleep.
And the Turba:- Master, our faculties are able to perceive, for by God's assistance we have
exhausted thy sayings, but our faculties of hearing and of sight are unable to carry such great
things. May God reward thee for the sake of thy disciples, since it is with the object of instructing
future generations that thou hast summoned us together from our countries, the recompense of
which thou wilt not fail to receive from the Judge to come.
Arisleus saith:- Seeing that thou hast gathered us together for the advantage of posterity, I think
that no explanations will be more useful than definitions of those four elements which thou hast
taught us to attain.
And he:- None of you are, I suppose, ignorant that all the Wise have propounded definitions in
God.
The Turba answereth:- Should your disciples pass over anything, it becomes you, O Master, to
avoid omissions for the sake of future generations.

And he:- If it please you, I will begin the disposition here, since envious men in their books have
separated that, or otherwise I will put it at the end of the book.
Whereat the Turba saith:- Place it where you think it will be dearest for future generations.
And he:- I will place it where it will not be recognised by the foolish, nor ignored by the Sons of
the Doctrine, for it is the key, the perfection and the end.
The Ninth Dictum.
Eximenus saith:- God hath created all things by his word, having said unto them: Be, and they
were made, with the four other elements, earth, water, air, and tire, which He coagulated, and
things contrary were commingled, for we see that fire is hostile to water, water hostile to fire, and
both are hostile to earth and air. Yet God hath united them peacefully, so that they love one
another. Out of these four elements, therefore, are all things created- heaven and the throne
thereof; the angels; the sun, moon. and stars; earth and sea, with all things that are in the sea,
which indeed are various, and not alike, for their natures have been made diverse by God, and
also the creations. But the diversity is more than I have stated; each of these natures is of diverse
nature, and by a legion of diversities is the nature of each diverse. Now this diversity subsists in
all creatures, because they were created out of diverse elements. Had they been created out of
one element, they would have been agreeing natures. But diverse elements being here mingled,
they lose their own natures, because the dry being mixed with the humid and the cold combined
with the hot, become neither cold nor hot; so also the humid being mixed with the dry becomes
neither dry nor humid. But when the four elements are commingled, they agree, and thence
proceed creatures which never attain to perfection, except they be left by night to putrefy and
become visibly corrupt. God further completed his creation by means of increase, food, life, and
government. Sons of the Doctrine, not without purpose have I described to you the disposition of
these four elements, for in them is a secret arcanum; two of them are perceptible to the sense of
touch and vision, and of these the operation and virtue are well known. These are earth and
water. But there are two other elements which are neither visible nor tangible, which yield naught,
whereof the place is never seen, nor are their operations and force known, save in the former
elements, namely, earth and water; now when the four elements are not commingled, no desire
of men is accomplished. But being mixed, departing from their own natures, they become another
thing. Over these let us meditate very carefully.
And the Turba:- Master, if you speak, we will give heed to Your words.
Then he:- I have now discoursed, and that well. I will speak only useful words which ye will follow
as spoken. Know, all present, that no true tincture is made except from our copper. Do not
therefore, exhaust your brains and your money, lest ye fill your hearts with sorrow. I will give you
a fundamental axiom, that unless you turn the aforesaid copper into white, and make visible coins
and then afterwards again turn it into redness, until a Tincture: results, verily, ye accomplish
nothing. Burn therefore the copper, break it up, deprive it of its blackness by cooking, imbuing,
and washing, until the same becomes white. Then rule it.
The Tenth Dictum.
Arisleus saith:- Know that the key of this work is the art of Coins. Take, therefore, the body which
I have shewn to you and reduce it to thin tablets. Next immerse the said tablets in the Water of
our Sea, which is permanent Water, and, after it is covered, set it over a gentle fire until the
tablets are melted and become waters or Etheliae, which are one and the same thing. Mix, cook,
and simmer in a gentle fire until Brodium is produced, like to Saginatum. Then stir in its water of
Etheliae until it be coagulated, and the coins become variegated, which we call the Flower of Salt.
Cook it, therefore, until it be deprived of blackness, and the whiteness appear. Then rub it, mix

with the Gum of Gold, and cook until it becomes red Etheliae. Use patience in pounding lest you
become weary. Imbue the Ethelia with its own water, which has preceded from it, which also is
Permanent Water, until the same becomes red. This, then, is Burnt Copper, which is the Leaven
of Gold and the Flower thereof. Cook the same with Permanent Water, which is always with it,
until the water be dried up. Continue the operation until all the water is consumed, and it becomes
a most subtle powder.
The Eleventh Dictum.
Parmenides saith:- Ye must know that envious men have dealt voluminously with several waters,
brodiums, stones, and metals, seeking to deceive all you who aspire after knowledge. Leave,
therefore, all these, and make the white red, out of this our copper, taking copper and lead, letting
these stand for the grease, or blackness, and tin for the liquefaction. Know ye, further, that unless
ye rule the Nature of Truth, and harmonize well together its complexions and compositions, the
consanguineous with the consanguineous, and the first with the first, ye act improperly and effect
nothing, because natures will meet their natures, follow them, and rejoice. For in them they
putrefy and are generated, because Nature is ruled by Nature, which destroys it, turns it into dust,
reduces to nothing, and finally herself renews it, repeats, and frequently produces the same.
Therefore look in books, that ye may know the Nature of Truth, what putrefies it and what renews,
what savour it possesses, what neighbours it naturally has, and how they love each other, how
also after love enmity and corruption intervene, and how these natures should be united one to
another and made at peace, until they become gentle in the fire in similar fashion. Having,
therefore, noticed the facts in this Art, set your hands to the work. If indeed, ye know not the
Natures of Truth, do not approach the work, since there will follow nothing but harm, disaster, and
sadness. Consider, therefore, the teaching of the Wise, how they have declared the whole work
in this saying:- Nature rejoices in Nature, and Nature contains Nature. In these words there is
shewn forth unto you the whole work. Leave, therefore, manifold and superfluous things, and take
quicksilver, coagulate in the body of Magnesia, in Kuhul, or in Sulphur which does not burn; make
the same nature white, and place it upon our Copper, when it becomes white. And if ye cook still
more, it becomes red, when if ye proceed to coction, it becomes gold. I tell you that it turns the
sea itself into red and the colour of gold. Know ye also that gold is not turned into redness save
by Permanent Water, because Nature rejoices in Nature.: Reduce, therefore, the same by means
of cooking into a humour, until the hidden nature appear. If, therefore, it be manifested externally,
seven times imbue the same with water, cooking, imbuing, and washing, until it become red. O
those celestial natures, multiplying the natures of truth by the will of God! O that potent Nature,
which overcame and conquered natures, and caused its natures to rejoice and be glad! This,
therefore, is that special and spiritual nature to which the God thereof can give what fire cannot.
Consequently, we glorify and magnify that [species], than which nothing is more precious in the
true tincture, or the like in the smallest degree to be found. This is that truth which those
investigating wisdom love. For when it is liquefied with bodies, the highest operation is effected. If
ye knew the truth, what great thanks ye would give me! Learn, therefore, that while you are
tingeing the cinders, you must destroy those that are mixed. For it overcomes those which are
mixed, and changes them to its own colour. And as it visibly overcame the surface, even so it
mastered the interior. And if one be volatile but the other endure the fire, either joined to the other
endures the fire. Know also, that if the vapours have whitened the surfaces, they will certainly
whiten the interiors. Know further, all ye seekers after Wisdom, that one matter overcomes four,
and our Sulphur alone consumes all things.
The Turba answereth: Thou hast spoken excellently well, O Parmenides, but thou hast not
demonstrated the disposition of the smoke to posterity, nor how the same is whitened!
The Twelfth Dictum.
Lucas saith: I will speak at this time, following the steps of the ancients. Know, therefore, all ye
seekers after Wisdom, that this treatise is not from the beginning of the ruling! Take quicksilver,

which is from the male, and coagulate according to custom. Observe that I am speaking to you in
accordance with custom, because it has been already coagulated. Here, therefore, is not the
beginning of the ruling, but I prescribe this method, namely, that you shall take the quicksilver
from the male, and shall either impose upon iron, tin, or governed copper, and it will be whitened.
White Magnesia is made in the same way, and the male is converted with it. But forasmuch as
there is a certain affinity between the magnet and the iron, therefore our nature rejoices.) Take,
then, the vapour which the Ancients commanded you to take, and cook the same with its own
body until tin is produced. Wash away its blackness according to custom, and cleanse and roast
at an equable fire until it be whitened. But every body is whitened with governed quicksilver, for
Nature converts Nature. Take, therefore, Magnesia, Water of Alum, Water of Nitre, Water of the
Sea, and Water of Iron; whiten with smoke.: Whatsoever ye desire to be whitened is whitened
with this smoke, because it is itself white, and whitens all things. Mix, therefore, the said smoke
with its faeces until it be coagulated and become excessively white. Roast this white copper till it
germinates of itself, since the Magnesia when whitened does not suffer the spirits to escape, or
the shadow of copper to appear, because Nature contains Nature. Take, therefore, all ye Sons of
the Doctrine, the white sulphureous nature, whiten with salt and dew, or with the Flower of White
Salt, until it become excessively white. And know ye, that the Flower of White Salt is Ether from
Ethelia. The same must be boiled for seven days, till it shall become like gleaming marble, for
when it has reached this condition it is a very great Arcanum, seeing that Sulphur is mixed with
Sulphur, whence an excellent work is accomplished, by reason of the affinity between them,
because natures rejoice in meeting their own natures. Take, therefore, Mardek and whiten the
same with Gadenbe, that is, wine and vinegar, and Permanent Water. Roast and coagulate until
the whole does not liquefy in a fire stronger than its own, namely, the former fire. Cover the mouth
of the vessel securely, but let it be associated with its neighbour, that it may kindle the whiteness
thereof, and beware lest the fire blaze up, for in this case it becomes red prematurely, and this
will profit you nothing, because in the beginning of the ruling you require the white. Afterwards
coagulate the same until you attain the red. Let your fire be gentle in the whitening, until
coagulation take place. Know that when it is coagulated we call it the Soul, and it is more quickly
converted from nature into nature. This, therefore, is sufficient for those who deal with the Art of
Coins, because one thing makes it but many operate therein. For ye need not a number of things,
but one thing only, which in each and every grade of your work is changed into another nature.
The Turba saith: Master, if you speak as the Wise have spoken, and that briefly, they will follow
you who do not wish to be wholly shut in with darkness.
The Thirteenth Dictum.
Pythagoras saith:- We posit another government which is not from another root, but it differs in
name. And know, all ye seekers after this Science and Wisdom, that whatsoever the envious may
have enjoined in their books concerning the composition of natures which agree together, in
savour there is only one, albeit to sight they are as diverse as possible. Know, also, that the thing
which they have described in so many ways follows and attains its companion without fire, even
as the magnet follows the iron, to which the said thing is not vainly compared, nor to a seed, nor
to a matrix, for it is also like unto these. And this same thing, which follows its companion without
fire, causes many colours to appear when embracing it, for this reason, that the said one thing
enters into every regimen, and is found everywhere, being a stone, and also not a stone;
common and precious; hidden and concealed, yet known by everyone; of one name and of many
names, which is the Spume of the Moon. This stone, therefore, is not a stone, because it is more
precious; without it Nature never operates anything; its name is one, yet we have called it by
many names on account of the excellence of its nature.
The Turba answereth:- O! Master! wilt thou not mention some of those names for the guidance of
seekers?

And he:- It is called White Ethelia, White Copper, and that which flies from the fire and alone
whitens copper. Break up, therefore, the White Stone, and afterwards coagulate it with milk. Then
pound the calx in the mortar, taking care that the humidity does not escape from the vessel; but
coagulate it in the vessel until it shall become a cinder. Cook also with Spume of Luna and
regulate. For ye shall find the stone broken, and already imbued with its own water. This,
therefore, is the stone which we call by all names, which assimilates the work and drinks it, and is
the stone out of which also all colours appear. Take, therefore, that same gum, which is from the
scoriae, and mix with cinder of calx, which you have ruled, and with the faeces which you know,
moistening with permanent water. Then look and see whether it has become a powder, but if not,
roast in a fire stronger than the first fire, until it be pounded. Then imbue with permanent water,
and the more the colours vary all the more suffer them to be heated. Know, moreover, that if you
take white quicksilver, or the Spume of Luna, and do as ye are bidden, breaking up with a gentle
fire, the same is coagulated, and becomes a stone. Out of this stone, therefore, when it is broken
up, many colours will appear to you. But herein, if any ambiguity occur to you in our discourse, do
as ye are bidden, ruling the same until a white and coruscating stone shall be produced, and so
ye find your purpose.
The Fourteenth Dictum.
Acsubofen saith:- Master, thou hast spoken without envy, even as became thee, and for the
same may God reward thee!
Pythagoras saith:- May God also deliver thee, Acsubofen, from envy!
Then he:- Ye must know, O Assembly of the Wise, that sulphurs are contained in sulphurs, and
humidity in humidity.
The Turba answereth:- The envious, O Acsubofen, have uttered something like unto this! Tell us,
therefore, what is this humidity?
And he:- Humidity is a venom, and when venom penetrates a body, it tinges it with an invariable
colour, and in no wise permits the soul to be separated from the body, because it is equal thereto.
Concerning this, the envious have said: When one flies and the other pursues, then one seizes
upon the other, and afterwards they no longer flee, because Nature has laid hold of its equal,
after the manner of an enemy, and they destroy one another. For this reason, out of the
sulphureous mixed sulphur is produced a most precious colour, which varies not, nor flees from
the fire, when the soul enters into the interior of the body and holds the body together and tinges
it. I will repeat my words in Tyrian dye. Take the Animal which is called Kenckel, since all its water
is a Tyrian colour, and rule the same with a gentle fire, as is customary, until it shall become
earth, in which there will be a little colour. But if you wish to obtain the Tyrian tincture, take the
humidity which that thing has ejected, and place it therewith gradually in a vessel, adding that
tincture whereof the colour was disagreeable to you. Then cook with that same marine water until
it shall become dry. Afterwards moisten with that humour, dry gradually, and cease not to imbue
it, to cook, and to dry, until it be imbued with all its humour. Then leave it for several days in its
own vessel, Until the most precious Tyrian colour shall come out from it to the surface. Observe
how I describe the regimen to you! Prepare it with the urine of boys, with water of the sea, and
with permanent clean water, so that it may be tinged, and decoct with a gentle fire, until the
blackness altogether shall depart from it, and it be easily pounded. Decoct, therefore, in its own
humour until it clothe itself with a red colour. But if ye wish to bring it to the Tyrian colour, imbue
the same with continual water, and mix, as ye know to be sufficient, according to the rule of sight;
mix the same with permanent water sufficiently, and decoct until rust absorb the water. Then
wash with the water of the sea which thou hast prepared, which is water of desiccated calx; cook
until it imbibe its own moisture; and do this day by day. I tell you that a colour will thence appear
to you the like of which the Tyrians have never made. And if ye wish that it should be a still more
exalted colour, place the gum in the permanent water, with which ye shall dye it alternately, and

afterwards desiccate in the sun. Then restore to the aforesaid water and the black Tyrian colour is
intensified. But know that ye do not tinge the purple colour except by cold. Take, therefore, water
which is of the nature of cold, and steep wool therein until it extract the force of the tincture from
the water. Know also that the Philosophers have called the force which proceeds from that water
the Flower. Seek, therefore, your intent in the said water; therein place what is in the vessel for
days and nights, until it be clothed with a most precious Tyrian colour.
The Fifteenth Dictum.
Frictes saith:- O all ye seekers after Wisdom, know that the foundation of this Art, on account of
which many have perished, is one only. There is one thing which is stronger than all natures, and
more sublime in the opinion of philosophers, whereas with fools it is more common than anything.
But for us it is a thing which we reverence. Woe unto all ye fools! How ignorant are ye of this Art,
for which ye would die if ye knew it! I swear to you that if kings were familiar with it, none of us
would ever attain this thing. O how this nature changeth body into spirit! O how admirable is
Nature, how she presides over all, and overcomes all!
Pythagoras saith:- Name this Nature, O Frictes!
And he:- It is a very sharp vinegar, which makes gold into sheer spirit, without which vinegar,
neither whiteness, nor blackness, nor redness, nor rust can be made. And know ye that when it is
mixed with the body, it is contained therein, and becomes one therewith; it turns the same into a
spirit, and tinges with a spiritual and invariable tincture, which is indelible. Know, also, that if ye
place the body over the fire without vinegar, it will be burnt and corrupted. And know, further, that
the first humour is cold. Be careful, therefore, of the fire, which is inimical to cold. Accordingly, the
Wise have said: "Rule gently until the sulphur becomes incombustible." The Wise men have
already shewn to those who possess reason the disposition of this Art, and the best point of their
Art, which they mentioned, is, that a little of this sulphur burns a strong body. Accordingly they
venerate it and name it in the beginning of their book, and the son of Adam thus described it. For
this vinegar burns the body, converts it into a cinder, and also whitens the body, which, if ye cook
well and deprive of blackness, is changed into a stone, so that it becomes a coin of most intense
whiteness. Cook, therefore, the stone until it be disintegrated, and then dissolve and temper with
water of the sea. Know also, that the beginning of the whole work is the whitening, to which
succeeds the redness, finally the perfection of the work; but after this, by means of vinegar, and
by the will of Gcd, there follows a complete perfection, Now, I have shewn to you, O disciples of
this Turba, the disposition of the one thing, which is more perfect, more precious, and more
honourable, than all natures, and I swear to you by God that I have searched for a long time in
books so that I might arrive at the knowledge of this one thing, while I prayed also to God that he
would teach me what it is. My prayer was heard, He shewed me clean water, whereby I knew
pure vinegar, and the more I did read books, the more was I illuminated.
The Sixteenth Dictum.
Socrates saith:- Know, O crowd of those that still remain of the Sons of the Doctrine, that no
tincture can be produced without Lead, which possesses the required virtue. Have ye not seen
how thrice-great Hermes infused the red into the body, and it was changed into an invariable
colour? Know, therefore, that the first virtue is vinegar, and the second is the Lead of which the
Wise have spoken, which if it be infused into all bodies, renders all unchangeable, and tinges
them with an invariable colour. Take, therefore, Lead which is made out of the stone called Kuhul;
let it be of the best quality, and let it be cooked till it becomes black. Then pound the same with
Water of Nitre until it is thick like grease, and cook again in a very bright fire until the spissitude of
the body is destroyed, the water being rejected. Kindle, therefore, above it until the stone
becomes clean, abounding in precious metal, and exceedingly white. Pound it afterwards with
dew and the sun, and with sea and rain water for 31 days, for 10 days with salt water, and 10
days with fresh water, when ye shall find the same like to a metallic stone. Cook the same once

more with water of nitre until it become tin by liquefaction. Again cook until it be deprived of
moisture, and become dry. But know that when it becomes dry it drinks up what remains of its
humour swiftly, because it is burnt lead. Take care, however, lest it be burnt. Thus we call it
incombustible sulphur. Pound the same with the sharpest vinegar, and cook till it becomes thick,
taking care lest the vinegar be changed into smoke and perish; continue this coction for 150 days.
Now, therefore, I have demonstrated the disposition of the white lead, all which afterwards follows
being no more than women's work and child's play. Know, also, that the arcanum of the work of
gold proceeds out of the male and the female, but I have shewn you the male in the lead, while,
in like manner, I have discovered for you the female in orpiment. Mix, therefore, the orpiment with
the lead, for the female rejoices in receiving the strength of the male, because she is assisted by
the male. But the male receives a tingeing spirit from the female. Mix them, therefore, together,
place in a glass vessel, and pound with Ethelia and very sharp vinegar; cook for seven days,
taking care lest the arcanum smoke away, and leave throughout the night. But if ye wish it to put
on mud (colour), seeing that it is already dry, again imbue with vinegar. Now, therefore, I have
notified to you the power of orpiment, which is the woman by whom is accomplished the most
great arcanum. Do not shew these unto the evil, for they will laugh. It is the Ethelia of vinegar
which is placed in the preparation, by which things God perfects the work, whereby also spirits
take possession of bodies, and they become spiritual.
The Seventeenth Dictum.
Zimon saith:- O Turba of Philosophers and disciples, now hast thou spoken about making into
white, but it yet remains to treat concerning the reddening! Know, all ye seekers after this Art, that
unless ye whiten, ye cannot make red, because the two natures are nothing other than red and
white. Whiten, therefore, the red, and redden the white! Know, also, that the year is divided into
four seasons; the first season is of a frigid complexion, and this is Winter; the second is of the
complexion of air, and this is Spring; then follows the third, which is summer, and is of the
complexion of fire; lastly, there is the fourth, wherein fruits are matured, which is Autumn. In this
manner, therefore, ye are to rule your natures, namely, to dissolve ill winter, to cook in spring, to
coagulate in summer, and to gather and tinge the fruit in autumn. Having, therefore, given this
example, rule the tingeing natures, but if ye err, blame no one save yourselves.
The Turba answereth:- Thou hast treated the matter extremely well; add, therefore, another
teaching of this kind for the sake of posterity.
And he:- I will speak of making lead red. Take the copper which the Master ordered you to take at
the beginning of his book, combine lead therewith, and cook it until it becomes thick; congeal also
and desiccate until it becomes red. Here certainly is the Red Lead of which the wise spake;
copper and lead become a precious stone; mix them equally, let gold be roasted with them, for
this, if ye rule well, becomes a tingeing spirit in spirits. So when the male and the female are
conjoined there is not produced a volatile wife, but a spiritual composite. From the composite
turned into a red spirit is produced the beginning of the world. Behold this is the lead which we
have called Red Lead, which is of our work, and without which nothing is effected!
The Eighteenth Dictum.
Mundus saith to the Turba:- The seekers after this Art must know that the Philosophers in their
books have described gum in many ways, but it is none other than permanent water, out of which
our precious stone is generated. O how many are the seekers after this gum, and how few there
are who find it! Know that this gum is not ameliorated except by gold alone. For there be very
many who investigate these applications, and they find certain things, yet they cannot sustain the
labours because they are diminished. But the applications which are made out of the gum and out
of the honourable stone, which has already held the tincture, they sustain the labours, and are
never diminished. Understand, therefore, my words, for I will explain unto you the applications of
this gum, and the arcanum existing therein. Know ye that our gum is stronger than gold, and all

those who know it do hold it more honourable than gold, yet gold we also honour, for without it
the gum cannot be improved. Our gum, therefore, is for Philosophers more precious and more
sublime than pearls, because out of gum with a little gold we buy much. Consequently, the
Philosophers, when committing these things to writing that the same might not perish, have not
set forth in their books the manifest disposition, lest every one should become acquainted
therewith, and having become familiar to fools, the same would not sell it at a small price. Take,
therefore, one part of the most intense white gum; one part of the urine of a white calf; one part of
the gall of a fish; and one part of the body of gum, without which it cannot be improved; mix these
portions and cook for forty days. When these things have been done, congeal by the heat of the
sun till they are dried. Then cook the same, mixed with milk of ferment, until the milk fail;
afterwards extract it, and until it become dry evaporate the moisture by heat. Then mix it with milk
of the fig, and cook it till that moisture be dried up in the composite, which afterwards mix with
milk of the root of grass, and again cook until it be dry. Then moisten it with rainwater, then
sprinkle with water of dew, and cook until it be dried. Also imbue with permanent water, and
desiccate until it become of the most intense dryness. Having done these things: mix the same
with the gum which is equipped with all manner of colours, and cook strongly until the whole force
of the water perish; and the entire body be deprived of its humidity, while ye imbue the same by
cooking, until the dryness thereof be kindled. Then dismiss for forty days. Let it remain in that
trituration or decocting until the spirit penetrate the body. For by this regimen the spirit is made
corporeal, and the body is changed into a spirit. Observe the vessel, therefore, lest the
composition fly and pass off in fumes. These things being accomplished, open the vessel, and ye
will find that which ye purposed. This, therefore, is the arcanum of gum, which the Philosophers
have concealed in their books.
The Nineteenth Dictum.
Dardaris saith:- It is common knowledge that the Masters before us have described Permanent
Water. Now, it behoves one who is introduced to this Art to attempt nothing till he is familiar with
the power of this Permanent Water, and in commixture, contrition, and the whole regimen, it
behoves us to use invariably this famous Permanent Water. He, therefore, who does not
understand Permanent Water, and its indispensable regimen, may not enter into this Art, because
nothing is effected without the Permanent Water. The force thereof is a spiritual blood, whence
the Philosophers have called it Permanent Water, for, having pounded it with the body, as the
Masters before me have explained to you, by the will of God it turns that body into spirit. For
these, being mixed together and reduced to one, transform each other; the body incorporates the
spirit, and the spirit incorporates the body into tinged spirit, like blood. And know ye, that
whatsoever hath spirit the same hath blood also as well. Remember, therefore, this arcanum!
The Twentieth Dictum.
Belus saith:- O disciples, ye have discoursed excellently!
Pythagoras answers:- Seeing that they are philosophers, O Belus, why hast thou called them
disciples?
He answereth:- It is in honour of their Master, lest I should make them equal with him.
Then Pythagoras saith:- Those who, in conjunction with us, have composed this book which is
called the Turba, ought not to be termed disciples.
Then he:- Master, they have frequently described Permanent Water, and the making of the White
and the Red in many ways, albeit under many names; but in the modes after which they have
conjoined weights, compositions, and regimens, they agree with the hidden truth. Behold, what is
said concerning this despised thing! A report has gone abroad that the Hidden Glory of the

Philosophers is a stone and not a stone, and that it is called by many names, lest the foolish
should recognise it, Certain wise men have designated it after one fashion, namely, according to
the place where it is generated; others have adopted another, founded upon its colour, some of
whom have termed it the Green Stone; by other some it is called the Stone of the most intense
Spirit of Brass, not to be mixed with bodies; by yet others its description has been further varied,
because it is sold for coins by lapidaries who are called saven; some have named it Spume of
Luna; some have distinguished it astronomically or arithmetically; it has already received a
thousand titles, of which the best is: "That which is produced out of metals." So also others have
called it the Heart of the Sun, and yet others have declared it to be that which is brought forth out
of quicksilver with the milk of volatile things.
The Twenty-first Dictum.
Pandolfus saith:- O Belus, thou hast said so much concerning the despised stone that thou hast
left nothing to be added by thy brethren! Howsoever, I teach posterity that this despised stone is a
permanent water, and know, all ye seekers after Wisdom, that permanent water is water of
mundane life, because, verily, Philosophers have stated that Nature rejoices in Nature, Nature
contains Nature, and Nature overcomes Nature. The Philosophers have constituted this short
dictum the principle of the work for reasonable persons. And know ye that no body is more
precious or purer than the Sun, and that no tingeing venom: is generated without the Sun and its
shadow. He, therefore, who attempts to make the venom of the Philosophers without these,
already errs, and has fallen into that pit wherein his sadness remains. But he who has tinged the
venom of the wise out of the Sun and its shadow has arrived at the highest Arcanum. Know also
that our coin when it becomes red, is called gold; he, therefore, who knows the hidden Cambar of
the Philosophers, to him is the Arcanum already revealed.
The Turba answereth:- Thou hast even now intelligibly described this stone, yet thou hast not
narrated its regimen nor its composition. Return, therefore, to the description.
He saith:- I direct you to take an occult and honourable arcanum, which is White Magnesia, and
the same is mixed and pounded with wine, but take care not to make use of this except it be pure
and clean; finally place it in its vessel, and pray God that He may grant you the sight of this very
great stone. Then cook gradually, and, extracting, see if it has become a black stone, in which
case ye have ruled excellently well. But rule it thus for the white, which is a great arcanum, until it
becomes Kuhul, closed up with blackness, which blackness see that it does not remain longer
than forty days. Pound the same, therefore, with its confections, which are the said flower of
copper, gold of the Indies whose root is one, and a certain extract of an unguent, that is, of a
crocus, that is, fixed exalted alum; cook the four, therefore, permanently for 40 or 42 days. After
these days God will show you the principle(or beginning) of this stone, which is the stone Atitos,
of which favoured sight of God there are many accounts. Cook strongly, and imbue with the gum
that remains. And know ye that so often as ye imbue the cinder, so often must it be desiccated
and again humectated, until its colour turns into that which ye desire. Now, therefore, will I
complete that which I have begun, if God will look kindly on us. Know also that the perfection of
the work of this precious stone is to rule it with the residue of the third part of the medicine, and to
preserve the two other parts for imbuing and cooking alternately till the required colour appears.
Let the fire be more intense than the former; let the matter be cerated, and when it is desiccated it
coheres. Cook, therefore, the wax until it imbibes the gluten of gold, which being desiccated,
imbue the rest of the work seven times until the other two thirds be finished, and true earth imbibe
them all. Finally, place the same on a hot fire until the earth extract its flower and be satisfactory.
Blessed are ye if ye understand! But, if not, I will repeat to you the perfection of the work. Take
the clean white, which is a most great arcanum, wherein is the true tincture; imbue sand
therewith, which sand is made out of the stone seven times imbued, until it drink up the whole,
and close the mouth of the vessel effectually, as you have often been told. For that which ye seek
of it by the favour of God, will appear to you, which is the stone of Tyrian colour. Now, therefore, I

have fulfilled the truth, so do I conjure you by God and your sure Master, that you show not this
great arcanum, and beware of the wicked!
The Twenty-Second Dictum.
Theophilus saith: Thou hast spoken intelligently and elegantly, and art held free from envy.
Saith the Turba:- Let your discretion, therefore, explain to us what the instructing Pandolfus has
stated, and be not envious.
Then he:- O all ye seekers after this science, the arcanum of gold and the art of the coin is a dark
vestment, and no one knows what the Philosophers have narrated in their books without frequent
reading, experiments, and questionings of the Wise. For that which they have concealed is more
sublime and obscure than it is possible to make known in words, and albeit some have dealt with
it intelligibly and well, certain others have treated it obscurely; thus some are more lucid than
others.
The Turba answereth: Thou hast truly spoken.
And he:- I announce to posterity that between boritis and copper there is an affinity, because the
boritis of the Wise liquefies; the copper, and it changes as a fluxible water. Divide, therefore, the
venom into two equal parts, with one of which liquefy the copper, but preserve the other to Pound
and imbue the same, until it is drawn out into plates; cook again with the former part of the
venom, cook two to seven in two; cook to seven in its own water for 42 days; finally, open the
vessel, and ye shall find copper turned into quicksilver; wash the same by cooking until it be
deprived of its blackness, and become as copper without a shadow. Lastly, cook it continuously
until it be congealed. For when it is congealed it becomes a very great arcanum. Accordingly, the
Philosophers have called this stone Boritis; cook, therefore, that coagulated stone until it
becomes a matter like mucra. Then imbue it with the Permanent water which I directed you to
reserve, that is to say, with the other portion, and cook it many times until its colours manifest.
This, therefore, is the very great putrefaction which extracts (or contains in itself) the very great
arcanum.
Saith the Turba:- Return to thine exposition, O Theophilus!
And he:- It is to be known that the same affinity which exists between the magnet and iron, also
exists assuredly between copper and permanent water. If, therefore, ye rule copper and
permanent water as I have directed, there will thence result the very great arcanum in the
following fashion. Take white Magnesia and quicksilver, mix with the male, and pound strongly by
cooking, not with the hands, until the water become thin. But dividing this water into two parts, in
the one part of the water cook it for eleven, otherwise, forty days, until there be a white flower, as
the flower of salt in its splendour and coruscation: but strongly close the mouth of the vessel, and
cook for forty days, when ye will find it water whiter than milk; deprive it of all blackness by
cooking; continue the cooking until its whole nature be disintegrated, until the defilement perish,
until it be found clean, and is wholly broken up (or becomes wholly clean). But if ye wish that the
whole arcanum, which I have given you, be accomplished, wash the same with water, that is to
say, the other part which I counselled you to preserve, until there appear a crocus, and leave in
its own vessel. For the Iksir pounds (or contains) itself; imbue also with the residue of the water,
until by decoction and by water it be pounded and become like a syrup of pomegranates; imbue
it, therefore, and cook, until the weight of the humidity shall fail, and the colour which the
Philosophers have magnified shall truly appear.
The Twenty-third Dictum.

Cerus saith:- Understand, all ye Sons of the Doctrine, that which Theophilus hath told you,
namely, that there exists an affinity between the magnet and the iron, by the alliance of composite
existing between the magnet and the iron, while the copper is fitly ruled for one hundred days:
what statement can be more useful to you than that there is no affinity between tin and
quicksilver!
The Turba answereth:- Thou hast ill spoken, having disparaged the true disposition.
And he:- I testify that I say nothing but what is true why are you incensed against me Fear the
Lord, all ye Turba, that you Master may believe you!
The Turba answereth:- Say what you will.
And he:- I direct you to take quicksilver, in which is the male potency or strength; cook the same
with its body until it becomes a fluxible water; cook the masculine together with the vapour, until
each shall be coagulated and become a stone. Then take the water which you had divided into
two parts, of which one is for liquefying and cooking the body, but the second is for cleansing that
which is already burnt, and its companion, which [two] are made one. Imbue the stone seven
times, and cleanse, until it be disintegrated, and its body be purged from all defilement, and
become earth. Know also that in the time of forty-two days the whole is changed into earth; by
cooking, therefore, liquefy the same until it become as true water, which is quicksilver. Then wash
with water of nitre until it become as a liquefied coin. Then cook until it be congealed and become
like to tin, when it is a most great arcanum; that is to say, the stone which is out of two things.
Rule the same by cooking and pounding, until it becomes a most excellent crocus. Know also that
unto water desiccated with its companion we have given the name of crocus. Cook it, therefore,
and imbue with the residual water reserved by you until you attain your purpose.
The Twenty-fourth Dictum.
Bocascus saith:- Thou hast spoken well, O Belus, and therefore I follow thy steps!
He answereth:- As it may please you, but do not become envious, for that is not the part of the
Wise.
And Bocascus:- Thou speakest the truth, and thus, therefore, I direct the Sons of the Doctrine.
Take lead, and, as the Philosophers have ordained, imbue, liquefy, and afterwards congeal, until
a stone is produced; then rule the stone with gluten of gold and syrup of pomegranates until it be
broken up. But you have already divided the water into two parts, with one of which you have
liquefied the lead, and it has become as water; cook, therefore, the same until it be dried and
have become earth; then pound with the water reserved until it acquire a red colour, as you have
been frequently ordered.
The Turba answereth:- Thou hast done nothing but pile up ambiguous words. Return, therefore,
to the subject.
And he:- Ye who wish to coagulate quicksilver, must mix it with its equal. Afterwards cook it
diligently until both become permanent water, and, again, cook this water until it be coagulated.
But let this be desiccated with its own equal vapour, because ye have found the whole quicksilver
to be coagulated by itself. If ye understand, and place in your vessel what is necessary, cook it
until it be coagulated, and then pound until it becomes a crocus like to the colour of gold.
The Twenty-Fifth Dictum.

Menabdus saith:- May God reward thee for the regimen, since thou speakest the truth! For thou
hast illuminated thy words.
And they:- It is said because thou praisest him for his sayings, do not be inferior to him.
And he:- I know that I can utter nothing but that which he hath uttered; however, I counsel
posterity to make bodies not bodies, but these incorporeal things bodies. For by this regimen the
composite is prepared, and the hidden part of its nature is extracted. With these bodies
accordingly join quicksilver and the body of Magnesia, the woman also with the man, and by
means of this there is extracted our secret Ethelia, through which bodies are coloured; assuredly,
if I understand this regimen, bodies become not bodies, and incorporeal things become bodies. If
ye diligently pound the things in the fire and digest (or join to) the Ethelias, they become clean
and fixed things. And know ye that quicksilver is a fire burning the bodies, mortifying and breaking
up, with one regimen, and the more it is mixed and pounded with the body, the more the body is
disintegrated, while the quicksilver is attenuated and becomes living. For when ye shall diligently
pound fiery quicksilver and cook it as required, ye will possess Ethel, a fixed nature and colour,
subject to every tincture, which also overcomes, breaks, and constrains the fire. For this reason it
does not colour things unless it be coloured, and being coloured it colours. And know that no
body can tinge itself unless its spirit be extracted from the secret belly thereof, when it becomes a
body and soul without the spirit, which is a spiritual tincture, out of which colours have
manifested, seeing that a dense thing does not tinge a tenuous, but a tenuous nature colours that
which enters into a body. When, however, ye have ruled the body of copper, and have extracted
from it a most tenuous (subject), then the latter is changed into a tincture by which it is coloured.
Hence has the wise man said, that copper does not tinge unless first it be tinged. And know that
those four bodies which you are directed to rule are this copper, and that the tinctures which I
have signified unto you are the condensed and the humid, but the condensed is a conjoined
vapour, and the humid is the water of sulphur, for sulphurs are contained by sulphurs, and rightly
by these things Nature rejoices in Nature, and overcomes, and constrains.
The Twenty-Sixth Dictum.
Zenon saith:- I perceive that you, O crowd of the Wise, have conjoined two bodies, which your
Master by no means ordered you to do!
The Turba answereth:- Inform us according to your own opinion, O Zenon, in this matter, and
beware of envy! Then he:- Know that the colours which shall appear to you out of it are these.
Know, O Sons of the Doctrine, that it behoves you to allow the composition to putrefy for forty
days, and then to sublimate five times in a vessel. Next join to a fire of dung, and cook, when
these colours shall appear to you: On the first day black citrine, on the second black red, on the
third like unto a dry crocus, finally, the purple colour will appear to you; the ferment and the coin
of the vulgar shall be imposed; then is the Ixir composed out of the humid and the dry, and then it
tinges with an invariable tincture. Know also that it is called a body wherein there is gold. But
when ye are composing the Ixir, beware lest you extract the same hastily, for it lingers. Extract,
therefore, the same as an Ixir. For this venom is, as it were, birth and life, because it is a soul
extracted out of many things, and imposed upon coins: its tincture, therefore, is life to those
things with which it is joined, from which it removes evil, but it is death to the bodies from which it
is extracted. Accordingly, the Masters have said that between them there exists the same desire
as between male and female, and if any one, being introduced to this Art, should know these
natures, he would sustain the tediousness of cooking until he gained his purpose according to the
will of God.
The Twenty-Seventh Dictum.

Gregorius saith:- O all ye Turba, it is to be observed that the envious have called the venerable
stone Efflucidinus, and they have ordered it to be ruled until it coruscates like marble in its
splendour.
And they:- Show, therefore, what it is to posterity.
Then he:- Willingly; you must know that the copper is commingled with vinegar, and ruled until it
becomes water. Finally, let it be congealed, and it remains a coruscating stone with a brilliancy
like marble, which, when ye see thus, I direct you to rule until it becomes red, because when it is
cooked till it is disintegrated and becomes earth, it is turned into a red colour. When ye see it
thus, repeatedly cook and imbue it until it assume the aforesaid colour, and it shall become
hidden gold. Then repeat the process, when it will become gold of a Tyrian colour. It behoves
you, therefore, O all ye investigators of this Art, when ye have observed that this Stone is
coruscating, to pound and turn it into earth, until it acquires some degree of redness; then take
the remainder of the water which the envious ordered you to divide into two parts, and ye shall
imbibe them several times until the colours which are hidden by no body appear unto you. Know
also that if ye rule it ignorantly, ye shall see nothing of those colours. I knew a certain person who
commenced this work, and operated the natures of truth, who, when the redness was somewhat
slow in appearing, imagined that he had made a mistake, and so relinquished the work. Observe,
therefore, how ye make the conjunction, for the punic dye, having embraced his spouse, passes
swiftly into her body, liquefies, congeals, breaks up, and disintegrates the same. Finally, the
redness does not delay in coming, and if ye effect it without the weight, death will take place,
whereupon it will be thought to be bad. Hence, I order that the fire should be gentle in
liquefaction, but when it is turned to earth make the same intense, and imbue it until God shall
extract the colours for us and they appear.
The Twenty-Eighth Dictum.
Custos saith:- I am surprised, O all ye Turba! at the very great force and nature of this water, for
when it has entered into the said body, it turns it first into earth, and next into powder, to test the
perfection of which take in the hand, and if ye find it impalpable as water, it is then most excellent;
otherwise, repeat the cooking until it is brought to the required condition. And know that if ye use
any substance other than our copper, and rule with our water, it will profit you nothing. If, on the
other hand, ye rule our copper with our water, ye shall find all that has been promised by us.
But the Turba answereth:- Father, the envious created no little obscurity when they commanded
us to take lead and white quicksilver, and to rule the same with dew and the sun till it becomes a
coin-like stone.
Then he:- They meant our copper and our permanent water, when they thus directed you to cook
in a gentle fire, and affirmed that there should be produced the said coin-like stone, concerning
which the Wise have also observed, that Nature rejoices in Nature, by reason of the affinity which
they know to exist between the two bodies, that is to say, copper and permanent water.
Therefore, the nature of these two is one, for between them there is a mixed affinity, without
which they would not so swiftly unite, and be held together so that they may become one.
Saith the Turba:- Why do the envious direct us to take the copper which we have now made, and
roasted until it has become gold!
The Twenty-Ninth Dictum.
Diamedes saith:- Thou hast spoken already, O Moses [Custos], in an ungrudging manner, as
became thee; I will also confirm thy words, passing over the hardness of the elements which the
wise desire to remove, this disposition being most precious in their eyes. Know, O ye seekers

after this doctrine, that man does not proceed except from a man; that only which is like unto
themselves is begotten from brute animals; and so also with flying creatures.
I have treated these matters in compendious fashion, exalting you towards the truth, who
yourselves omit prolixity, for Nature is truly not improved by Nature, save with her own nature,
seeing that thou thyself art not improved except in thy son, that is to say, man in man. See,
therefore, that ye do not neglect the precepts concerning her, but make use of venerable Nature,
for out of her Art cometh, and out of no other. Know also that unless you seize hold of this Nature
and rule it, ye will obtain nothing. Join, therefore, that male, who is son to the red slave, in
marriage with his fragrant wife, which having been done, Art is produced between them; add no
foreign matter unto these things, neither powder nor anything else; that conception is sufficient for
us, for it is near, yet the son is nearer still. How exceeding precious is the nature of that red slave,
without which the regimen cannot endure!
Bacsen saith:- O Diomedes, thou hast publicly revealed this disposition!
He answereth:- I will even shed more light upon it. Woe unto you who fear not God, for He may
deprive you of this art! Why, therefore, are you envious towards your brethren?
They answer:- We do not flee except from fools; tell us, therefore, what is thy will?
And he:- Place Citrine with his wife after the conjunction into the bath; do not kindle the bath
excessively, lest they be deprived of sense and motion; cause them to remain in the bath until
their body, and the colour thereof, shall become a certain unity, whereupon restore unto it the
sweat thereof; again suffer it to die; then give it rest, and beware lest ye evaporate them by
burning them in too strong a fire. Venerate the king and his wife, and do not burn them, since you
know not when you may have need of these things, which improve the king and his wife. Cook
them, therefore, until they become black, then white, afterwards red, and finally until a tingeing
venom is produced. O seekers after this Science, happy are ye, if ye understand, but if not, I have
still performed my duty, and that briefly, so that if ye, remain ignorant, it is God who hath
concealed the truth from you! Blame not, therefore, the Wise, but yourselves, for if God knew that
ye possessed a faithful mind, most certainly he would reveal unto you the truth. Behold, I have
established you therein, and have extricated you from error!
The Thirtieth Dictum.
Bacsen saith:- Thou hast spoken well, O Diomedes, but I do not see that thou hast demonstrated
the disposition of Corsufle to posterity! Of this same Corsufle the envious have spoken in many
ways, and have confused it with all manner of names.
Then he:- Tell me, therefore, O Bacsen, according to thy opinion in these matters, and I swear by
thy father that this is the head of the work, for the true beginning hereof cometh after the
completion.
Bacsen saith:- I give notice, therefore, to future seekers after this Art, that Corsufle is a
composite, and that it must be roasted seven times, because when it arrives at perfection it tinges
the whole body.
The Turba answereth:- Thou hast spoken the truth, O Bacsen!
The Thirty-First Dictum.

Pythagoras Saith:- How does the discourse of Bacsen appear to you, since he has omitted to
name the substance by its artificial names?
And they:- Name it, therefore, oh Pythagoras!
And he:- Corsufle being its composition, they have applied to it all the names of bodies in the
world, as, for example, those of coin, copper, tin, gold, iron, and also the name of lead, until it be
deprived of that colour and become Ixir.
The Turba answereth:- Thou hast spoken well, O Pythagoras!
And he:- Ye have also spoken well, and some among the others may discourse concerning the
residual matters.
The Thirty-Second Dictum.
Bonellus saith: According to thee, O Pythagoras, all things die and live by the will of God,
because that nature from which the humidity is removed, that nature which is left by nights, does
indeed seem like unto something that is dead; it is then turned and (again) left for certain nights,
as a man is left in his tomb, when it becomes a powder. These things being done, God will
restore unto it both the soul and the spirit thereof, and the weakness being taken away, that
matter will be made strong, and after corruption will be improved, even as a man becomes
stronger after resurrection and younger than he was in this world. Therefore it behoves you, O ye
Sons of the Doctrine, to consume that matter with fire boldly until it shall become a cinder, when
know that ye have mixed it excellently well, for that cinder receives the spirit, and is imbued with
the humour until it assumes a fairer colour than it previously possessed. Consider, therefore, O
ye Sons of the Doctrine, that artists are unable to paint with their own tinctures until they convert
them into a powder; similarly, the philosophers cannot combine medicines for the sick slaves until
they also turn them into powder, cooking some of them to a cinder, while others they grind with
their hands. The case is the same with those who compose the images of the ancients. But if ye
understand what has already been said, ye will know that I speak the truth, and hence I have
ordered you to burn up the body and turn it into a cinder, for if ye rule it subtly many things will
proceed from it, even as much proceeds from the smallest things in the world. It is thus because
copper like man, has a body and a soul, for the inspiration of men cometh from the air, which
after God is their life, and similarly the copper is inspired by the humour from which that same
copper receiving strength is multiplied and augmented like other things. Hence, the philosophers
add, that when copper is consumed with fire and iterated several times, it becomes better than it
was.
The Turba answereth:- Show, therefore, O Bonellus, to future generations after what manner it
becometh better than it was!
And he:- I will do so willingly; it is because it is augmented and multiplied, and because God
extracts many things out of one thing, since He hath created nothing which wants its own
regimen, and those qualities by which its healing must be effected. Similarly, our copper, when it
is first cooked, becomes water; then the more it is cooked, the more is it thickened until it
becomes a stone, as the envious have termed it, but it is really an egg tending to become a
metal. It is afterwards broken and imbued, when ye must roast it in a fire more intense than the
former, until it shall be coloured and shall become like blood in combustion, when it is placed on
coins and changes them into gold, according to the Divine pleasure. Do you not see that sperm is
not produced from the blood unless it be diligently cooked in the liver till it has acquired an
intense red colour, after which no change takes place in that sperm? It is the same with our work,
for unless it be cooked diligently until it shall become a powder, and afterwards be putrefied until
it shall become a spiritual sperm, there will in no wise proceed from it that colour which ye desire.

But if ye arrive at the conclusion of this regimen, and so obtain your purpose, ye shall be princes
among the People of your time.
The Thirty-Third Dictum.
Nicarus saith:- Now ye have made this arcanum public.
The Turba answereth:- Thus did the Master order.
And he:- Not the whole, nevertheless.
But they:- He ordered us to clear away the darkness therefrom; do thou, therefore, tell us.
And he:- I counsel posterity to take the gold which they wish to multiply and renovate, then to
divide the water into two parts.
And they:- Distinguish, therefore, when they divide the water.
But he:- It behoves them to burn up our copper with one part. For the said copper, dissolved in
that water, is called the ferment of Gold, if ye rule well. For the same in like manner are cooked
and liquefy as water; finally, by cooking they are congealed, crumble, and the red appears. But
then it behoves you to imbue seven times with the residual water, until they absorb all the water,
and, all the moisture being dried up, they are turned into dry earth; then kindle a fire and place
therein for forty days until the whole shall putrefy, and its colours appear.
The Thirty-Fourth Dictum.
Bacsen saith:- On account of thy dicta the Philosophers said beware. Take the regal Corsufle,
which is like to the redness of copper, and pound in the urine of a calf until the nature of the
Corsufle is converted, for the true nature has been hidden in the belly of the Corsufle.
The Turba saith:- Explain to posterity what the nature is.
And he:- A tingeing spirit which it hath from permanent water, which is coin-like, and coruscates.
And they:- Shew, therefore, how it is extracted.
And he:- It is pounded, and water is poured upon it seven times until it absorbs the whole
humour, and receives a force which is equal to the hostility of the fire; then it is called rust. Putrefy
the same diligently until it becomes a spiritual powder, of a colour like burnt blood, which the fire
overcoming hath introduced into the receptive belly of Nature, and hath coloured with an indelible
colour. This, therefore, have kings sought, but not found, save only to whom God has granted it.
But the Turba saith:- Finish your speech, O Bacsen.
And he:- I direct them to whiten copper with white water, by which also they make red. Be careful
not to introduce any foreign matter.
And the Turba:- Well hast thou spoken, O Bacsen, and Nictimerus also has spoken well!
Then he:- If I have spoken well, do one of you continue.

The Thirty-Fifth Dictum.

But Zimon saith:- Hast thou left anything to be said by another?
And the Turba:- Since the words of Nicarus and Bacsen are of little good to those who seek after
this Art, tell us, therefore, what thou knowest, according as we have said.
And he:- Ye speak the truth, O all ye seekers after this Art! Nothing else has led you into error but
the sayings of the envious, because what ye seek is sold at the smallest possible price. If men
knew this, and how great was the thing they held in their hands, they would in no wise sell it.
Therefore, the Philosophers have glorified that venom, have treated of it variously, and in many
ways, have taken and applied to it all manner of names, wherefore, certain envious persons have
said: It is a stone and not a stone, but a gum of Ascotia, consequently, the Philosophers have
concealed the power thereof. For this spirit which ye seek, that ye may tinge therewith, is
concealed in the body, and hidden away from sight, even as the soul in the human body. But ye
seekers after the Art, unless ye disintegrate this body, imbue and pound both cautiously and
diligently, until ye extract it from its grossness (or grease), and turn it into a tenuous and
impalpable spirit, have your labour in vain. Wherefore the Philosophers have said: Except ye turn
bodies into not bodies, and incorporeal things into bodies, ye have not yet discovered the rule of
operation.
But the Turba saith:- Tell, therefore, posterity how bodies are turned into not-bodies.
And he:- They are pounded with fire and Ethelia till they become a powder. And know that this
does not take place except by an exceedingly strong decoction, and continuous contrition,
performed with a moderate fire, not with hands, with imbibition and putrefaction, with exposure to
the sun and to Ethelia. The envious caused the vulgar to err in this Art when they stated that the
thing is common in its nature and is sold at a small price. They further said that the nature was
more precious than all natures, wherefore they deceived those who had recourse to their books.
At the same time they spoke the truth, and therefore doubt not these things.
But the Turba answereth:- Seeing that thou believest the sayings of the envious, explain,
therefore, to posterity the disposition of the two natures.
And he:- I testify to you that Art requires two natures, for the precious is not produced without the
common, nor the common without the precious. It behoves you, therefore, O all ye Investigators
of this Art, to follow the sayings of Victimerus, when he said to his disciples: Nothing else helps
you save to sublimate water and vapour.
And the Turba:- The whole work is in the vapour and the sublimation of water. Demonstrate,
therefore, to them the disposition of the vapour.
And he:- When ye shall perceive that the natures have become water by reason of the heat of the
fire, and that they have been purified, and that the whole body of Magnesia is liquefied as water;
then all things have been made vapour, and rightly, for then the vapour contains its own equal,
wherefore the envious call either vapour, because both are joined in decoctions, and one
contains the other. Thus our stag finds no path to escape, although flight be essential to it. The
one keeps back the other, so that it has no opportunity to fly, and it finds no place to escape;
hence all are made permanent, for when the one falls, being hidden in the body, it is congealed
with it, and its colour varies, and it extracts its nature from the properties which God has infused
into His elect, and it alienates it, lest it flee. But the blackness and redness appear, and it falls into
sickness, and dies by rust and putrefaction; properly speaking, then, it has not a flight, although it
is desirous to escape servitude; then when it is free it follows its spouse, that a favourable colour
may befall itself and its spouse; its beauty is not as it was, but when it is placed with coins, it

makes them gold. For this reason, therefore, the Philosophers have called the spirit and the soul
vapour. They have also called it the black humid wanting perlution; and forasmuch as in man
there are both humidity and dryness, thus our work, which the envious have concealed, is nothing
else but vapour and water.
The Turba answereth:- Demonstrate vapour and water!
And he:- I say that the work is out of two; the envious have called it composed out of two,
because these two become four, wherein are dryness and humidity, spirit and vapour.
The Turba answereth:- Thou hast spoken excellently, and without envy. Let Zimon next follow.
The Thirty-Sixth Dictum.
Afflontus, the Philosopher, saith:- I notify to you all, O ye investigators of this Art, that unless ye
sublime the substances at the commencement by cooking, without contrition of hands, until the
whole become water, ye have not yet found the work. And know ye, that the copper was formerly
called sand, but by others stone, and, indeed, the names vary in every regimen. Know further,
that the nature and humidity become water, then a stone, if ye cause them to be well
complexionated, and if ye are acquainted with the natures, because the part which is light and
spiritual rises to the top, but that which is thick and heavy remains below in the vessel. Now this is
the contrition of the Philosophers, namely, that which is not sublimated sinks down, but that which
becomes a spiritual powder rises to the top of the vessel, and this is the contrition of decoction,
not of hands. Know also, that unless ye have turned all into powder, ye have not yet pounded
them completely. Cook them, therefore, successively until they become converted, and a powder.
Wherefore Agadaimon saith:- Cook the copper until it become a gentle and impalpable body, and
impose in its own vessel; then sublimate the same six or seven times until the water shall
descend. And know that when the water has become powder then has it been ground diligently.
But if ye ask, how is the water made a powder? note that the intention of the Philosophers is that
the body before which before it falls into the water is not water may become water; the said water
is mixed with the other water, and they become one water. It is to be stated, therefore, that unless
ye turn the thing mentioned into water, ye shall not attain to the work. It is, therefore, necessary
for the body to be so possessed by the flame of the fire that it is disintegrated and becomes weak
with the water, when the water has been added to the water, until the whole becomes water. But
fools, hearing of water, think that this is water of the clouds. Had they read our books they would
know that it is permanent water, which cannot become permanent without its companion,
wherewith it is made one. But this is the water which the Philosophers have called Water of Gold,
the Igneous, Good Venom, and that Sand of Many Names which Hermes ordered to be washed
frequently, so that the blackness of the Sun might be removed, which he introduced in the
solution of the body. And know, all ye seekers after this Art, that unless ye take this pure body,
that is, our copper without the spirit, ye will by no means see what ye desire, because no foreign
thing enters therein, nor does anything enter unless it be pure. Therefore, all ye seekers after this
Art, dismiss the multitude of obscure names, for the nature is one water; if anyone err, he draws
nigh to destruction, and loses his life. Therefore, keep this one nature, but dismiss what is foreign.
The Thirty-Seventh Dictum.
Bonellus saith:- I will speak a little concerning Magnesia.
The Turba answereth:- Speak.
And he:- O all ye Sons of the Doctrine, when mixing Magnesia, place it in its vessel, the mouth of
which close carefully, and cook with a gentle fire until it liquefy, and all become water therein! For
the heat of the water acting thereupon, it becomes water by the will of God. When ye see that the

said water is about to become black, ye know that the body is already liquefied. Place again in its
vessel, and cook for forty days, until it drink up the moisture of the vinegar and honey. But certain
persons uncover it, say, once in each week, or once in every ten nights; in either case, the
ultimate perfection of pure water appears at the end of forty days, for then it completely absorbs
the humour of the decoction. Therefore, wash the same, and deprive of its blackness, until, the
blackness being removed, the stone becomes dry to the touch. Hence the envious have said:Wash the Magnesia with soft water, and cook diligently, until it become earth, and the humour
perish. Then it is called copper. Subsequently, pour very sharp vinegar upon it, and leave it to be
soaked therein. But this is our copper, which the Philosophers have ordained should be washed
with permanent water, wherefore they have said: Let the venom be divided into two parts, with
one of which burn up the body, and with the other putrefy. And know, all ye seekers after this
Science, that the whole work and regimen does not take place except by water, wherefore, they
say that the thing which ye seek is one, and, unless that which improves it be present in the said
thing, what ye look for shall in no wise take place. Therefore, it behoves you to add those .things
which are needful, that ye may thereby obtain that which you purpose.
The Turba answereth:- Thou has spoken excellently, O Bonellus! If it please thee, therefore,
finish that which thou art saying; otherwise repeat it a second time.
But he:- Shall I indeed repeat these and like things? O all ye investigators of this Art, take our
copper; place with the first part of the water in the vessel; cook for forty days; purify from all
uncleanliness; cook further until its days be accomplished, and it become a stone having no
moisture. Then cook until nothing remains except faeces. This done, cleanse seven times, wash
with water, and when the water is used up leave it to putrefy in its vessel, so long as may seem
desirable to your purpose. But the envious called this composition when it is turned into
blackness that which is sufficiently black, and have said: Rule the same with vinegar and nitre.
But that which remained when it had been whitened they called sufficiently white, and ordained
that it should be ruled with permanent water. Again, when they called the same sufficiently red,
they ordained that it should be ruled with water and fire until it became red.
The Turba answereth:- Show forth unto posterity what they intended by these things.
And he:- They called it Ixir satis, by reason of the variation of its colours. In the work, however,
there is neither variety, multiplicity, nor opposition of substances; it is necessary only to make the
black copper white and then red. However, the truth-speaking Philosophers had no other
intention than that of liquefying, pounding, and cooking Ixir until the stone should become like
unto marble in its splendour. Accordingly, the envious again said: Cook the same with vapour
until the stone becomes coruscating by reason of its brilliancy. But when ye see it thus, it is,
indeed, the most great Arcanum. Notwithstanding, ye must then pound and wash it seven times
with permanent water; finally, again pound and congeal in its own water, until ye extract its own
concealed nature. Wherefore, saith Maria, sulphurs are contained in sulphurs, but humour in like
humour, and out of sulphur mixed with sulphur, there comes forth a great work. But I ordain that
you rule the same with dew and the sun, until your purpose appear to you. For I signify unto you
that there are two kinds of whitening and of making red, of which one consists in rust and the
other in contrition and decoction. But ye do not need any contrition of hands. Beware, however, of
making a separation from the waters lest the poisons get at You, and the body perish with the
other things which are in the vessel.
The Thirty-Eighth Dictum.
Effistus saith:- Thou hast spoken most excellently, O Bonellus, and I bear witness to all thy
words!

The Turba saith:- Tell us if there be any service in the speech of Bonellus, so that those initiated
in this disposition may be more bold and certain.
Effistus saith:- Consider, all ye investigators of this Art, how Hermes, chief of the Philosophers,
spoke and demonstrated when he wished to mix the natures. Take, he tells us, the stone of gold,
combine with humour which is permanent water, set in its vessel, over a gentle fire until
liquefaction takes place. Then leave it until the water dries, and the sand and water are
combined, one with another; then let the fire be more intense than before, until it again becomes
dry, and is made earth. When this is done, understand that here is the beginning of the arcanum;
but do this many times, until two-thirds of the water perish, and colours manifest unto you.
The Turba answereth:- Thou hast spoken excellently, O Effistus! Yet, briefly inform us further.
And he:- I testify to Posterity that the dealbation doth not take place save by decoction.
Consequently, Agadaimon has very properly treated of cooking, of pounding, and of imbuing,
ethelia. Yet I direct you not to pour on the whole of the water at one time, lest the Ixir be
submerged, but pour it in gradually, pound and dessicate, and do this several times until the
water be exhausted. Now concerning this the envious have said: Leave the water when it has all
been poured in, and it will sink to the bottom. But their intention is this, that while the humour is
drying, and when it has been turned into powder, leave it in its glass vessel for forty days, until it
passes through various colours, which the Philosophers have described. By this method of
cooking the bodies put on their spirits and spiritual tinctures, and become warm.
The Turba answereth:- Thou hast given light to us, O Effistus, and hast done excellently! Truly art
thou cleared from envy; wherefore, let one of you others speak as he pleases.
The Thirty-Ninth Dictum.
Bacsen saith:- O all ye seekers after this Art, ye can reach no useful result without a patient,
laborious, and solicitous soul, persevering courage, and continuous regimen. He, therefore, who
is willing to Persevere in this disposition, and would enjoy the result, may enter upon it, but he
who desires to learn over speedily, must not have recourse to our books, for they impose great
labour before they are read in their higher sense, once, twice, or thrice. Therefore, the Master
saith:- Whosoever bends his back over the study of our books, devoting his leisure thereto, is not
occupied with vain thoughts, but fears God, and shall reign in the Kingdom without fail until he
die. For what ye seek is not of small price. Woe unto you who seek the very great and
compensating treasure of God! Know ye not that for the smallest Purpose in the world, earthly
men will give themselves to death, and what, therefore, ought they to do for this most excellent
and almost impossible offering? Now, the regimen is greater than is perceived by reason, except
through divine inspiration. I once met with a person who was as well acquainted with the
elements as I myself, but when he proceeded to rule this disposition, he attained not to the joy
thereof by reason of his sadness and ignorance in ruling, and excessive eagerness, desire, and
haste concerning the purpose. Woe unto you, sons of the Doctrine! For one who plants trees
does not look for fruit, save in due season; he also who sows seeds does not expect to reap,
except at harvest time. How, then, should ye desire to attain this offering when ye have read but a
single book, or have adventured only the first regimen? But the Philosophers have plainly stated
that the truth is not to be discerned except after error, and nothing creates greater pain at heart
than error in this Art, while each imagines that he has almost the whole world, and yet finds
nothing in his hands. Woe unto you! Understand the dictum of the Philosopher, and how he
divided the work when he said- pound, cook, reiterate, and be thou not weary. But when thus he
divided the work, he signified commingling, cooking, assimilating, roasting, heating, whitening,
pounding, cooking Ethelia, making rust or redness, and tingeing. Here, therefore, are there many
names, and yet there is one regimen. And if men knew that one decoction and one contrition
would suffice them, they would not so often repeat their words, as they have done, and in order
that the mixed body may be pounded and cooked diligently, have admonished you not to be

weary thereof. Having darkened the matter to you with their words, it suffices me to speak in this
manner. It is needful to complexionate the venom rightly, then cook many times, and do not grow
tired of the decoction. Imbue and cook it until it shall become as I have ordained that it should be
ruled by you- namely, impalpable spirits, and until ye perceive that the Ixir is clad in the garment
of the Kingdom. For when ye behold the Ixir turned into Tyrian colour, then have ye found that
which the Philosophers discovered before you. If ye understand my words (and although my
words be dead, yet is there life therein for those who understand themselves), they will forthwith
explain any ambiguity occurring herein. Read, therefore, repeatedly, for reading is a dead
speech, but that which is uttered with the lips the same is living speech. Hence we have ordered
you to read frequently, and, moreover, ponder diligently over the things which we have narrated.
The Fortieth Dictum.
Jargus saith:- Thou hast left obscure a part of thy discourse, O Bacsen!
And he:- Do thou, therefore, Jargus, in thy clemency shew forth the same!
And he answereth:- The copper of which thou hast before spoken is not copper, nor is it the tin of
the vulgar; it is our true work (or body) which must be combined with the body of Magnesia, that it
may be cooked and pounded without wearying until the stone is made. Afterwards, that stone
must be pounded in its vessel with the water of nitre, and, subsequently, placed in liquefaction
until it is destroyed. But, all ye investigators of this art, it is necessary to have a water by which
the more you cook, so much the more you sprinkle, until the said copper shall put on rust, which
is the foundation of our work. Cook, therefore, and pound with Egyptian vinegar.
The Forty-First Dictum.
Zimon saith:- Whatsoever thou hast uttered, O Jargos, is true, yet I do not see that the whole
Turba hath spoken concerning the rotundum.
Then he:- Speak, therefore, thine opinion concerning it, O Zimon!
Zimon saith:- I notify to Posterity that the rotundum turns into four elements, and is derived out of
one thing.
The Turba answereth:- Inasmuch as thou art speaking, explain for future generations the method
of ruling.
And he:- Willingly: it is necessary to take one part of our copper, but of Permanent Water three
parts; then let them be mixed and cooked until they be thickened and become one stone,
concerning which the envious have said: Take one part of the pure body, but three parts of
copper of Magnesia; then commingle with rectified vinegar, mixed with male of earth; close the
vessel, observe what is in it, and cook continuously until it becomes earth.
The Forty-Second Dictum.
Ascanius saith:- Too much talking, O all ye Sons of the Doctrine, leads this subject further into
error! But when ye read in the books of the Philosophers that Nature is one only, and that she
overcomes all things: Know that they are one thing and one composite. Do ye not see that the
complexion of a man is formed out of a soul and body; thus, also, must ye conjoin these, because
the Philosophers, when they prepared the matters and conjoined spouses mutually in love with
each other, behold there ascended from them a golden water!

The Turba answereth:- When thou wast treating of the first work, lo! thou didst turn unto the
second! How ambiguous hast thou made thy book, and how obscure are thy words!
Then he:- I will perform the disposition of the first work.
The Turba answereth:- Do this.
And he:- Stir up war between copper and quicksilver, until they go to destruction and are
corrupted, because when the copper conceives the quicksilver it coagulates it, but when the
quicksilver conceives the copper, the copper is congealed into earth; stir up, therefore, a fight
between them; destroy the body of the copper until it becomes a powder. But conjoin the male to
the female, which are vapour and quicksilver, until the male and the female become Ethel, for he
who changes them into spirit by means of Ethel, and next makes them red, tinges every body,
because, when by diligent cooking ye pound the body, ye extract a pure, spiritual, and sublime
soul therefrom, which tinges every body.
The Turba answereth:- Inform, therefore, posterity what is that body.
And he:- It is a natural sulphureous thing which is called by the names of all bodies.
The Forty-Third Dictum.
Dardaris saith:- Ye have frequently treated of the regimen, and have introduced the conjunction,
yet I proclaim to posterity that they cannot extract the now hidden soul except by Ethelia, by
which bodies become not bodies through continual cooking, and by sublimation of Ethelia. Know
also that quicksilver is fiery, burning every body more than does fire, also mortifying bodies, and
that every body which is mingled with it is ground and delivered over to be destroyed. When,
therefore, ye have diligently pounded the bodies, and have exalted them as required, therefrom is
produced that Ethel nature, and a colour which is tingeing and not volatile, and it tinges the
copper which the Turba said did not tinge until it is tinged, because that which is tinged tinges.
Know also that the body of the copper is ruled by Magnesia, and that quicksilver is four bodies,
also that the matter has no being except by humidity, because it is the water of sulphur, for
sulphurs are contained in sulphurs.
The Turba saith:- O Dardaris, inform posterity what sulphurs are!
And he:- Sulphurs are souls which are hidden in four bodies, and, extracted by themselves, do
contain one another, and are naturally conjoined. For if ye rule that which is hidden in the belly of
sulphur with water, and cleanse well that which is hidden, then nature rejoices, meeting with
nature, and water similarly with its equal. Know ye also that the four bodies are not tinged but
tinge.
And the Turba:- Why dost thou not say like the ancients that when they are tinged, they tinge?
And he:- I state that the four coins of the vulgar populace are not tinged, but they tinge copper,
and when that copper is tinged, it tinges the coins of the populace.
The Forty-Fourth Dictum.
Moyses saith:- This one thing of which thou hast told us, O Dardaris, the Philosophers have
called by many names, sometimes by two and sometimes by three names!
Dardaris answereth:- Name it, therefore, for posterity, setting aside envy.

And he:- The one is that which is fiery, the two is the
body composed in it, the three is the water of sulphur, with which also it is washed and ruled until
it be perfected. Do ye not see what the Philosopher affirms, that the quicksilver which tinges gold
is quicksilver out of Cambar?
Dardaris answereth:- What dost thou mean by this? For the Philosopher says: sometimes from
Cambar and sometimes from Orpiment.
And he:- Quicksilver of orpiment is Cambar of Magnesia, but quicksilver is sulphur ascending
from the mixed composite. Ye must, therefore, mix that thick thing with fiery venom, putrefy, and
diligently pound until a spirit be produced, which is hidden in that other spirit; then is made the
tincture which is desired of you all.
The Forty-Fifth Dictum.
But Plato saith: It behoves you all, O Masters, when those bodies are being dissolved, to take
care lest they be burnt up, as also to wash them with sea water, until all their salt be turned into
sweetness, clarifies, tinges, becomes tincture of copper, and then goes off in flight! Because it
was necessary that one should become tingeing, and that the other should be tinged, for the spirit
being separated from the body and hidden in the other spirit, both become volatile. Therefore the
Wise have said that the gate of flight must not be opened for that which would flee, (or that which
does not flee), by whose flight death is occasioned, for by the conversion of the sulphureous thing
into a spirit like unto itself, either becomes volatile, since they are made aeriform spirits prone to
ascend in the air. But the Philosophers seeing that which was not volatile made volatile with the
volatiles, iterated these to a body like to the non-volatiles, and put them into that from which they
could not escape. They iterated them to a body like unto the bodies from which they were
extracted, and the same were then digested. But as for the statement of the Philosopher that the
tingeing agent and that which is to be tinged are made one tincture, it refers to a spirit concealed
in another humid spirit. Know also that one of the humid spirits is cold, but the other is hot, and
although the cold humid is not adapted to the warm humid, nevertheless they are made one.
Therefore, we prefer these two bodies, because by them we rule the whole work, namely, bodies
by not-bodies, until incorporeals become bodies, steadfast in the fire, because they are conjoined
with volatiles, which is not possible in any body, these excepted. For spirits in every wise avoid
bodies, but fugitives are restrained by incorporeals. Incorporeals, therefore, similarly flee from
bodies; those, consequently, which do not flee are better and more precious than all bodies.
These things, therefore, being done, take those which are not volatile and join them; wash the
body with the incorporeal until the incorporeal receives a non-volatile body; convert the earth into
water, water into fire, fire into air, and conceal the fire in the depths of the water, but the earth in
the belly of the air, mingling the hot with the humid, and the cold with the dry. Know, also, that
Nature overcomes Nature, Nature rejoices in Nature, Nature contains Nature.
The Forty-Sixth Dictum.
Attamus saith:- It is to be noted that the whole assembly of the Philosophers have frequently
treated concerning
Rubigo. Rubigo, however, is a fictitious and not a true name.
The Turba answereth:- Name, therefore, Rubigo by its true name, for by this it is not calumniated.
And he:- Rubigo is according to the work, because it is from gold alone.

The Turba answereth:- Why, then, have the Philosophers referred it to the leech?
He answereth:- Because water is hidden in sulphureous gold as the leech is in water; rubigo,
therefore, is rubefaction in the second work, but to make rubigo is to whiten in the former work, in
which the Philosophers ordained that the flower of gold should be taken and a proportion of gold
equally.
The Forty-Seventh Dictum.
Mundus saith:- Thou hast already treated sufficiently of Rubigo, O Attamus! I will speak,
therefore, of venom, and will instruct future generations that venom is not a body, because subtle
spirits have made it into a tenuous spirit, have tinged the body and burned it with venom, which
venom the Philosopher asserts will tinge every body. But the Ancient Philosophers thought that
he who turned gold into venom had arrived at the purpose, but he who can do not this profiteth
nothing. Now I say unto you, all ye Sons of the Doctrine, that unless ye reduce the thing by fire
until those things ascend like a spirit, ye effect nought. This, therefore, is a spirit avoiding the fire
and a ponderous smoke, which when it enters the body penetrates it entirely, and makes the
body rejoice. The Philosophers have all said: Take a black and conjoining spirit; therewith break
up the bodies and torture them till they be altered.
The Forty-Eighth Dictum.
Pythagoras saith:- We must affirm unto all you seekers after this Art that the Philosophers have
treated of conjunction (or continuation) in various ways. But I enjoin upon you to make quicksilver
con strain the body of Magnesia, or the body Kuhul, or the Spume of Luna, or incombustible
sulphur, or roasted calx, or alum which is out of apples, as ye know. But if there was any singular
regimen for any of these, a Philosopher would not say so, as ye know. Understand, therefore,
that sulphur, calx, and alum which is from apples, and Kuhul, are all nothing else but water of
sulphur. Know ye also that Magnesia, being mixed with quicksilver and sulphur, they pursue one
another. Hence you must not dismiss that Magnesia without the quicksilver, for when it is
composed it is called an exceeding strong composition, which is one of the ten regimens
established by the Philosophers. Know, also, that when Magnesia is whitened with quicksilver,
you must congeal white water therein, but when it is reddened you must congeal red water, for,
as the Philosophers have observed in their books, the regimen is not one. Accordingly, the first
congelation is of tin, copper, and lead. But the second is composed with water of sulphur. Some,
however, reading this book, think that the composition can be bought. It must be known for
certain that nothing of the work can be bought, and that the science of this Art is nothing else than
vapour and the sublimation of water, with the conjunction, also, of quicksilver in the body of
Magnesia; but, heretofore, the Philosophers have demonstrated in their books that the impure
water of sulphur is from sulphur only, and no sulphur is produced without the water of its calx, and
of quicksilver, and of sulphur.
The Forty-Ninth Dictum.
Belus saith:- O all ye Philosophers, ye have not dealt sparingly concerning composition and
contact, but cornposition, contact, and congelation are one thing! Take, therefore, a part From the
one composition and a part out of ferment of gold, and on these impose pure water of sulphur.
This, then, is the potent (or revealed) arcanum which tinges every body.
Pythagoras answereth:- O Belus, why hast thou called it a potent arcanum, yet hast not shown its
work!
And he:- In our books, O Master, we have found the same which thou hast received from the
ancients!

And Pythagoras:- Therefore have I assembled you together, that you might remove any
obscurities which are in any books.
And he:- Willingly, O Master! It is to be noted that pure water which is from sulphur is not
composed of sulphur alone, but is composed of several things, for the one sulphur is made out of
several sulphurs. How, therefore, O Master, shall I compose these things that they may become
one!
And he:- Mix, O Belus, that which strives with the fire with that which does not strive, for things
which are conjoined in a fire suitable to the same contend, because the warm venoms of the
physician are cooked in a gentle, incomburent fire! Surely ye perceive what the Philosophers
have stated concerning decoction, that a little sulphur burns many strong things, and the humour
which remains is called humid pitch, balsam of gum, and other like things. Therefore our
Philosophers are made like to the physicians, notwithstanding that the tests of the physicians are
more intense than those of the Philosophers.
The Turba answereth:- I wish, O Belus, that you would also shew the disposition of this potent
arcanum!
And he:- I proclaim to future generations that this arcanum proceeds from two compositions, that
is to say, sulphur and magnesia. But after it is reduced and conjoined into one, the Philosophers
have called it water, spume of Boletus (i.e., a species of fungus), and the thickness of gold.
When, however, it has been reduced into quicksilver, they call it sulphur of water; sulphur also,
when it contains sulphur, they term a fiery venom, because it is a potent (or open) arcanum which
ascends from those things ye know.
The Fiftieth Dictum.
Pandolphus saith:- If, O Belus, thou dost describe the sublimation of sulphur for future
generations, thou wilt accomplish an excellent thing!
And the Turba:- Do thou show it forth, therefore, O Pandolphus!
And he:- The philosophers have ordered that quicksilver should be taken out of Cambar, and
albeit they spoke truly, yet in these words there is a little ambiguity, the obscurity of which I will
remove. See then that the quicksilver is sublimed in tabernacles, and extract the same from
Cambar, but there is another Cambar in sulphur which Belus hath demonstrated to you, for out of
sulphur mixed with sulphur, many works proceed. When the same has been sublimed, there
proceeds from the Cambar that quicksilver which is called Ethelia, Orpiment, Zendrio, or
Sanderich, Ebsemich, Magnesia, Kuhul, or Chuhul, and many other names. Concerning this,
philosophers have said that, being ruled by its regimen (for ten is the perfection of all things), its
white nature appears, nor is there any shadow therein. Then the envious have called it lead from
Ebmich, Magnesia, Marteck, White Copper. For, when truly whitened, it is devoid of shadow and
blackness, it has left its thickened ponderous bodies, and therewith a clean humid spirit has
ascended, which spirit is tincture. Accordingly, the wise have said that copper has a soul and a
body. Now, its soul is spirit, and its body is thick. Therefore, it behoves you to destroy the thick
body until ye extract a tingeing spirit from the same. Mix, also, the spirit extracted therefrom with
light sulphur until you, investigators, find your design accomplished.
The Fifty-First Dictum.
Horfolcos saith:- Thou hast narrated nothing, O Pandolphus, save the last regimen of this body!
Thou hast, therefore, composed an ambiguous description for readers. But if its regimen were
commenced from the beginning, you would destroy this obscurity.

Saith the Turba:- Speak, therefore, concerning this to posterity, so far as it may please you.
And he:- It behoves you, investigators of this Art, first to burn copper in a gentle fire, like that
required in the hatching of eggs. For it behoves you to burn it with its humidity lest its spirit be
burnt, and let the vessel be closed on all sides, so that its colour [heat] may be increased, the
body of copper be destroyed, and its tingeing spirit be extracted, concerning which the envious
have said: Take quicksilver out of the Flower of Copper, which also they have called the water of
our copper, a fiery venom, and a substance extracted from all things, which further they have
termed Ethelia, extracted out of many things. Again, some have said that when all things become
one, bodies are made not-bodies, but not-bodies bodies. And know, all ye investigators of this
Art, that every body is dissolved with the spirit with which it is mixed, with which without doubt it
becomes a similar spiritual thing, and that every spirit which has a tingeing colour of spirits, and is
constant against fire, is altered and coloured by bodies. Blessed then be the name of Him who
hath inspired the Wise with the idea of turning a body into a spirit having strength and colour,
unalterable and incorruptible, so that what formerly was volatile sulphur is now made sulphur notvolatile, and incombustible! Know, also, all ye sons of learning, that he who is able to make your
fugitive spirit red by the body mixed with it, and then from that body and that spirit can extract the
tenuous nature hidden in the belly thereof, by a most subtle regimen, tinges every body, if only he
is patient in spite of the tedium of extracting. Wherefore the envious have said: Know that out of
copper, after it is humectated by the moisture thereof, is pounded in its water, and is cooked in
sulphur, if ye extract a body having Ethelia, ye will find that which is suitable as a tincture for
anything. Therefore the envious have said: Things that are diligently pounded in the fire, with
sublimation of the Ethelia, become fixed tinctures. For whatsoever words ye find in any man's
book signify quicksilver, which we call water of sulphur, which also we sometimes say is lead and
copper and copulated coin.
The Fifty-Second Dictum.
Ixumdrus saith:- You will have treated most excellently, O Horfolcus, concerning the regimen of
copper and the humid spirit, provided you proceed therewith.
And he:- Perfect, therefore, what I have omitted, O Ixumdrus!
Ixumdrus saith:- You must know that this Ethelia which you have previously mentioned and
notified, which also the envious have called by many names, doth whiten, and tinge when it is
whitened; then truly the Philosophers have called it the Flower of Gold, because it is a certain
natural thing. Do you not remember what the Philosophers have said, that before it arrives at this
terminus, copper does not tinge? But when it is tinged it tinges, because quicksilver tinges when it
is combined with its tincture. But when it is mixed with those ten things which the Philosophers
have denominated fermented urines, then have they called all these things Multiplication. But
some have termed their mixed bodies Corsufle and Gum of Gold. Therefore, those names which
are found in the books of the Philosophers, and are thought superfluous and vain, are true and
yet are fictitious, because they are one thing, one opinion, and one way. This is the quicksilver
which is indeed extracted from all things, out of which all things are produced, which also is pure
water that destroys the shade of copper. And know ye that this quicksilver, when it is whitened,
becomes a sulphur which contains sulphur, and is a venom that has a brilliance like marble; this
the envious call Ethelia, orpiment and sandarac, out of which a tincture and pure spirit ascends
with a mild fire, and the whole pure flower is sublimated, which flower becomes wholly quicksilver.
It is, therefore, a most great arcanum which the Philosophers have thus described, because
sulphur alone whitens copper. Ye, O investigators of this Art, must know that the said sulphur
cannot whiten copper until it is whitened in the work! And know ye also that it is the habit of this
sulphur to escape. When, therefore, it flees from its own thick bodies, and is sublimated as a
vapour, then it behoves you to retain it otherwise with quicksilver of its own kind, lest it vanish
altogether. Wherefore the Philosophers have said, that sulphurs are contained by sulphurs.
Know, further, that sulphurs tinge, and then are they certain to escape unless they are united to

quicksilver of its own kind. Do not, therefore, think that because it tinges and afterwards escapes,
it is the coin of the Vulgar, for what the Philosophers are seeking is the coin of the Philosophers,
which, unless it be mixed with white or red, which is quicksilver of its own kind, would doubtless
escape. I direct you, therefore, to mix quicksilver with quicksilver (of its kind) until together they
become one clean water composed out of two. This is, therefore, the great arcanum, the
confection of which is with its own gum; it is cooked with flowers in a gentle fire and with earth; it
is made red with mucra and with vinegar, salt, and nitre, and with mutal is turned into rubigo, or
by any of the select tingeing agents existing in our coin.
The Fifty-Third Dictum.
Exumenus saith:- The envious have laid waste the whole Art with the multiplicity of names, but
the entire work must be the Art of the Coin. For the Philosophers have ordered the doctors of this
art to make coin-like gold, which also the same Philosophers have called by all manner of names.
The Turba answereth:- Inform, therefore, posterity, O Exumenus, concerning a few of these
names, that they may take warning!
And he:- They have named it salting, sublimating, washing, and pounding Ethelias, whitening in
the fire, frequently cooking vapour and coagulating, turning into rubigo, the confection of Ethel,
the art of the water of sulphur and coagula. By all these names is that operation called which has
pounded and whitened copper. And know ye, that quicksilver is white to the sight, but when it is
possessed by the smoke of sulphur, it reddens and becomes Cambar. Therefore, when
quicksilver is cooked with its confections it is turned into red, and hence the Philosopher saith that
the nature of lead is swiftly converted. Do you not see that the Philosophers have spoken without
envy! Hence we deal in many ways with pounding and reiteration, that ye may extract the spirits
existing in the vessel, which the fire did not cease to burn continuously. But the water placed with
those things prevents the fire from burning, and it befalls those things that the more they are
possessed by the flame of fire, the more they are hidden in the depths of the water, lest they
should be injured by the heat of the fire; but the water receives them in its belly and repels the
flame of fire from them.
The Turba answereth:- Unless ye make bodies not-bodies ye achieve nothing. But concerning the
sublimation of water the Philosophers have treated not a little. And know that unless ye diligently
pound the thing in the fire, the Ethelia does not ascend, but when that does not ascend ye
achieve nothing. When, however, it ascends it is an instrument for the intended tincture with
which ye tinge, and concerning this Ethelia Hermes saith: Sift the things which ye know; but
another: Liquefy the things. Therefore, Arras saith: Unless ye pound the thing diligently in the fire,
Ethelia does not ascend. The Master hath put forth a view which I shall now explain to the
reasoners. Know ye that a very great wind of the south, when it is stirred up, sublimates clouds
and elevates the vapours of the sea.
The Turba answereth:- Thou hast dealt obscurely.
And he:- I will explain the testa, and the vessel wherein is incombustible sulphur. But I order you
to congeal fluxible quicksilver out of many things, that two may be made three, and four one, and
two one.
The Fifty-Fourth Dictum.
Anaxagoras saith:- Take the volatile burnt thing which lacks a body, and incorporate it. Then take
the ponderous thing, having smoke, and thirsting to imbibe.

The Turba answereth:- Explain, O Anaxagoras, what is this obscurity which you expound, and
beware of being envious!
And he:- I testify to you that this volatile burnt thing, and this other which thirsts, are Ethelia,
which has been conjoined with sulphur. Therefore, place these in a glass vessel over the fire, and
cook until the whole becomes Cambar. Then God will accomplish the arcanum ye seek. But I
direct you to cook continuously, and not to grow tired of repeating the process. And know ye that
the perfection of this work is the confection of water of sulphur with tabula; finally, it is cooked
until it becomes Rubigo, for all the Philosophers have said: He who is able to turn Rubigo into
golden venom has already achieved the desired work, but otherwise his labour is vain.
The Fifty-Fifth Dictum.
Zenon saith:- Pythagoras hath treated concerning the water, which the envious have called by all
names. Finally, at the end of his book he has treated of the ferment of gold, ordaining that
thereon should be imposed clean water of sulphur, and a small quantity of its gum. I am
astonished, O all ye Turba, how the envious have in this work discoursed of the perfection rather
than the commencement of the same!
The Turba answereth:- Why, therefore, have you left it to putrefy?
And he:- Thou hast spoken truly; putrefaction does not take place without the dry and the humid.
But the vulgar putrefy with the humid. Thus the humid is merely coagulated with the dry. But out
of both is the beginning of the work. Notwithstanding, the envious have divided this work into
three parts, asserting that one quickly flees, but the other is fixed and immovable.
The Fifty-Sixth Dictum.
Constans saith:- What have you to do with the treatises of the envious, for it is necessary that this
work should deal with four things?
They answer:- Demonstrate, therefore, what are those four?
And he:- Earth, water, air, and fire. Ye have then those four elements without which nothing is
ever generated, nor is anything absolved in the Art. Mix, therefore, the dry with the humid, which
are earth and water, and cook in the fire and in the air, whence the spirit and the soul are
dessicated. And know ye that the tenuous tingeing agent takes its power out of the tenuous part
of the earth, out of the tenuous part of the fire and of the air, while out of the tenuous part of the
water, a tenuous spirit has been dessicated. This, therefore, is the process of our work, namely,
that everything may be turned into earth when the tenuous parts of these things are extracted,
because a body is then composed which is a kind of atmospheric thing, and thereafter tinges the
imposed body of coins. Beware, however, O all ye investigators of this art, lest ye multiply things,
for the envious have multiplied and destroyed for you! They have also described various
regimens that they might deceive; they have further called it (or have likened it to) the humid with
all the humid, and the dry with all the dry, by the name of every stone and metal, gall of animals
of the sea, the winged things of heaven and reptiles of the earth. But do ye who would tinge
observe that bodies are tinged with bodies. For I say to you what the Philosopher said briefly and
truly at the beginning of his book. In the art of gold is the quicksilver from Cambar, and in coins is
the quicksilver from the Male. In nothing, however, look beyond this, since the two quicksilvers
are also one.
The Fifty-Seventh Dictum.

Acratus saith:- I signify to posterity that I make philosophy near to the Sun and Moon. He,
therefore, that will attain to the truth let him take the moisture of the Sun and the Spume of the
Moon.
The Turba answereth:- Why are you made an adversary to your brethren?
And he:- I have spoken nothing but the truth.
But they:- Take what the Turba hath taken.
And he:- I was so intending, yet, if you are willing, I direct posterity to take a part of the coins
which the Philosophers have ordered, which also Hermes has adapted to the true tingeing, and a
part of the copper of the Philosophers, to mix the same with the coins, and place all the four
bodies in the vessel, the mouth of which must be carefully closed, lest the water escape. Cooking
must proceed for seven days, when the copper, already pounded with the coins, is found turned
into water. Let both be again slowly cooked, and fear nothing. Then let the vessel be opened, and
a blackness will appear above. Repeat the process, cook continually until the blackness of Kuhul,
which is from the blackness of coins, be consumed. For when that is consumed a precious
whiteness will appear on them; finally, being returned to their place, they are cooked until the
whole is dried and is turned into stone. Also repeatedly and continuously cook that stone born of
copper and coins with a fire sharper than the former, until the stone is destroyed, broken up, and
turned into cinder, which is a precious cinder. Alas, O ye sons of the Doctrine, how precious is
that which is produced from it! Mixing, therefore, the cinder with water, cook again, until that
cinder liquefy therewith, and then cook and imbue with permanent water, until the composition
becomes sweet and mild and red. Imbue until it becomes humid. Cook in a still hotter fire, and
carefully close the mouth of the vessel, for by this regimen fugitive bodies become not-fugitive,
spirits are turned into bodies, bodies into spirits, and both are connected together. Then are
spirits made bodies having a tingeing and germinating soul.
The Turba answereth:- Now hast thou notified to posterity that Rubigo attaches itself to copper
after the blackness is washed off with permanent water. Then it is congealed and becomes a
body of Magnesia. Finally, it is cooked until the whole body is broken up. Afterwards the volatile is
turned into a cinder and becomes copper without its shadow. Attrition also truly takes place.
Concerning, therefore, the work of the Philosophers, what hast thou delivered to posterity, seeing
that thou hast by no means called things by their proper names!
And he:- Following your own footsteps, I have discoursed even as have you.
Bonellus answereth:- You speak truly, for if you did otherwise we should not order your sayings to
be written in our books.
The Fifty-Eighth Dictum.
Balgus saith:- The whole Turba, O Acratus, has already spoken, as you have seen, but a
benefactor sometimes deceives, though his intention is to do good.
And they:- Thou speakest truly. Proceed, therefore, according to thy opinion, and beware of envy!
Then he:- You must know that the envious have described this arcanum in the shade; in physical
reasoning and astronomy, and the art of images; they have also likened it to trees; they have
ambiguously concealed it by the names of metals, vapours, and reptiles; as is generally
perceived in all their work. I, nevertheless, direct you, investigators of this science, to take iron
and draw it into plates; finally, mix (or sprinkle) it with venom, and place it in its vessel, the mouth

of which must be closed most carefully, and beware lest ye too much increase the humour, or, on
the other hand, lest it be too dry, but stir it vigorously as a mass, because, if the water be in
excess, it will not be contained in the chimney, while, if it be too dry, it will neither be conjoined
nor cooked in the chimney; hence I direct you to confect it diligently; finally, place it in its vessel,
the mouth of which must be closed internally and externally with clay, and, having kindled coals
above it, after some days ye shall open it, and there shall ye find the iron plates already liquefied;
while on the lid of the vessel ye shall find globules. For when the fire is kindled the vinegar
ascends, because its spiritual nature passes into the air, wherefore, I direct you to keep that part
separately. Ye must also know that by multiplied decoctions and attritions it is congealed and
coloured by the fire, and its nature is changed. By a similar decoction and liquefaction Cambar is
not disjoined. I notify to you that by the said frequent decoction the weight of a third part of the
water is consumed, but the residue becomes a wind in the Cambar of the second spirit. And know
ye that nothing is more precious or more excellent than the red sand of the sea, for the Sputum of
Luna is united with the light of the Sun's rays. Luna is perfected by the coming on of night, and by
the heat of the Sun the dew is congealed. Then, that being wounded, the dew of the death dealer
is joined, and the more the days pass on the more intensely is it congealed, and is not burned.
For he who cooks with the Sun is himself congealed, and that signal whiteness causes it to
overcome the terrene fire.
Then saith Bonites:- Do you not know, O Balgus, that the Spume of Luna tinges nothing except
our copper?
And Balgus:- Thou speakest truly.
And he:- Why, therefore, hast thou omitted to describe that tree, of the fruit whereof whosoever
eateth shall hunger nevermore?
And Balgus:- A certain person, who has followed science, has notified to me after what manner
he discovered this same tree, and appropriately operating, did extract the fruit and eat of it. But
when I inquired of him concerning the growth and the increment, he described that pure
whiteness, thinking that the same is found without any laborious disposition. Then its Perfection is
the fruit thereof. But when I further asked how it is nourished with food until it fructifies, he said:
Take that tree, and build a house about it, which shall wholly surround the same, which shall also
be circular, dark, encircled by dew, and shall have placed on it a man of a hundred years; shut
and secure the door lest dust or wind should reach them. Then in the time of 180 days send them
away to their homes. I say that man shall not cease to eat of the fruit of that tree to the perfection
of the number [of the days] until the old man shall become young. O what marvellous natures,
which have transformed the soul of that old man into a juvenile body, and the father is made into
the son! Blessed be thou, O most excellent God!
The Fifty-Ninth Dictum.
Theophilus saith:- I propose to speak further concerning those things which Bonites hath
narrated.
And the Turba:- Speak, Brother, for thy brother hath discoursed elegantly.
And he:- Following in the steps of Bonites I will make perfect his sayings. It should be known that
all the Philosophers, while they have concealed this disposition, yet spoke the truth in their
treatises when they named water of life, for this reason, that whatsoever is mixed with the said
water first dies, then lives and becomes young. And know, all ye disciples, that iron does not
become rusty except by reason of this water, because it tinges the plates; it is then placed in the
sun till it liquefies and is imbued, after which it is congealed. In these days it becomes rusty, but
silence is better than this illumination.

The Turba answereth:- O Theophilus, beware of becoming envious, and complete thy speech!
And he:- Would that I might repeat the like thing!
And they:- What is thy will?
Then he:- Certain fruits, which proceed first from that perfect tree, do flourish in the beginning of
the summer, and the more they are multiplied the more are they adorned, until they are perfected,
and being mature become sweet. In the same way that woman, fleeing from her own children,
with whom she lives, although partly angry, yet does not brook being overcome, nor that her
husband should possess her beauty, who furiously loves her, and keeps awake contending with
her, till he shall have carnal intercourse with her, and God make perfect the foetus, when he
multiplies children to himself according to his pleasure. His beauty, therefore, is consumed by fire
who does not approach his wife except by reason of lust. For when the term is finished he turns
to her. I also make known to you that the dragon never dies, but the Philosophers have put to
death the woman who slays her spouses. For the belly of that woman is full of weapons and
venom. Let, therefore, a sepulchre be dug for the dragon, and let that woman be buried with him,
who being strongly joined with that woman, the more he clasps her and is entwined with her, the
more his body, by the creation of female weapons in the body of the woman, is cut up into parts.
For perceiving him mixed with the limbs of a woman he becomes secure from death, and the
whole is turned into blood. But the Philosophers, beholding him turned into blood, leave him in the
sun for certain days, until the lenitude is consumed, the blood dries up, and they find that venom
which now is manifest. Then the wind is hidden.
The Sixtieth Dictum.
Bonellus saith:- Know, all ye disciples, that out of the elect things nothing becomes useful without
conjunction and regimen, because sperma is generated out of blood and desire. For the man
mingling with the woman, the sperm is nourished by the humour of the womb, and by the
moistening blood, and by heat, and when forty nights have elapsed the sperm is formed. But if
the humidity of the blood and of the womb were not heat, the sperm would not be dissolved, nor
the foetus be procreated. But God has constituted that heat and blood for the nourishment of the
sperm until the foetus is brought forth, after which it is not nourished, save by milk and fire,
sparingly and gradually, while it is dust, and the more it burns the more, the bones being
strengthened, it is led towards youth, arriving at which it is independent. Thus it behoves you also
to act in this Art. Know ye that without heat nothing is ever generated, and that the bath causes
the matter to perish by means of intense heat. If, indeed, it be frigid, it puts to flight and disperses,
but if it have been tempered, it is convenient and sweet to the body, wherefore the veins become
smooth and the flesh is augmented. Behold it has been demonstrated to you, all ye disciples!
Understand, therefore, and in all things which ye attempt to rule, fear God.
The Sixty-First Dictum.
Moses saith:- It is to be observed that the envious have named lead of copper instruments of
formation, simulating, deceiving posterity, to whom I give notice that there are no instruments
except from our own white, strong, and splendid powder, and from our concave stone and
marble, to the whole work whereof there is no more suitable powder, nor one more conjoined to
our composition, than the powder of Alociae, out of which are produced instruments of formation.
Further, the Philosophers have already said: Take instruments out of the egg. Yet they have not
said what the egg is, nor of what bird. And know ye that the regimen of these things is more
difficult than the entire work, because, if the composition be ruled more than it should be, its light
is taken and extinguished by the sea. Wherefore the Philosophers have ordered that it should be
ruled with profound judgment. The moon, therefore, being at the full, take this and place in sand
till it be dissolved. And know ye that while ye are placing the same in sand and repeating the

process, unless ye have patience, ye err in ruling, and corrupt the work. Cook, therefore, the
same in a gentle fire until ye see that it is dissolved. Then extinguish with vinegar, and ye shall
find one thing separated from three companions. And know ye that the first, Ixir, commingles, the
second burns, while the third liquefies. In the first place, therefore, impose nine ounces of vinegar
twice - first while the vessel is being made hot, and second when it is heated.
The Sixty-Second Dictum.
Mundus saith:- It behoves you, O all ye seekers after this Art, to know that whatsoever the
Philosophers have narrated or ordained, Kenckel, herbs, geldum, and carmen, are one thing! Do
not, therefore, trouble about a plurality of things, for there is one Tyrian tincture of the
Philosophers to which they have given names at will, and having abolished the proper name, they
have called it black, because it has been extracted from our sea. And know that the ancient
priests did not condescend to wear artificial garments, whence, for purifying altars, and lest they
should introduce into them anything sordid or impure, they tinged Kenckel with a Tyrian colour;
but our Tyrian colour, which they placed in their altars and treasuries, was more clean and
fragrant than can be described by me, which also has been extracted from our red and most pure
sea, which is sweet and of a pleasant odour, and is neither sordid nor impure in putrefaction. And
know ye that we have given many names to it. which are all true - an example of which, for those
that possess understanding, is to be traced in corn that is being ground. For after grinding it is
called by another name, and after it has been passed through the sieve, and the various
substances have been separated one from another, each of these has its own name, and yet
fundamentally there is but one name, to wit, corn, from which many names are distinguished.
Thus we call the purple in each grade of its regimen by the name of its own colour.
The Sixty-Third Dictum.
Philosophus saith:- I notify to posterity that the nature is male and female, wherefore the envious
have called it the body of Magnesia, because therein is the most great arcanum! Accordingly, O
all ye seekers after this Art, place Magnesia in its vessel, and cook diligently! Then, opening it
after some days, ye shall find the whole changed into water. Cook further until it be coagulated,
and contain itself. But, when ye hear of the sea in the books of the envious, know that they signify
humour, while by the basket they signify the vessel, and by the medicines they mean Nature,
because it germinates
and flowers. But when the envious say: Wash until the blackness of the copper passes away,
certain people name this blackness coins. But Agadimon has clearly demonstrated when he
boldly put forth these words: It is to be noted, O all ye demonstrators of this art, that the things [or
the copper] being first mixed and cooked once, ye shall find the prescribed blackness! That is to
say, they all become black. This, therefore, is the lead of the Wise, concerning which they have
treated very frequently in their books. Some also call it [the lead] of our black coins.
The Sixty-Fourth Dictum.
Pythagoras saith:- How marvellous is the diversity of the Philosophers in those things which they
formerly asserted, and in their coming together [or agreement], in respect of this small and most
common thing, wherein the precious thing is concealed! And if the vulgar knew, O all ye
investigators of this art, the same small and vile thing, they would deem it a lie! Yet, if they knew
its efficacy, they would not vilify it, but God hath concealed this from the crowd lest the world
should be devastated.
The Sixty-Fifth Dictum.

Horfolcus saith:- You must know, O all ye who love wisdom, that whereas Mundus hath been
teaching this Art, and placing before you most lucid syllogisms, he that does not understand what
he has said is a brute animal! But I will explain the regimen of this small thing, in order that any
one, being introduced into this Art, may become bolder, may, more assuredly consider it, and
although it be small, may compose the common with that which is dear, and the dear with that
which is common. Know ye that in the beginning of the mixing, it behoves you to commingle
elements which are crude, gentle, sincere, and not cooked or governed, over a gentle fire.
Beware of intensifying the fire until the elements are conjoined, for these should follow one
another, and be embraced in a complexion, whereby they are gradually burnt, until they be
dessicated in the said gentle fire. And know that one spirit burns one thing and destroys one
thing, and one body strengthens one spirit, and teaches the same to contend with the fire. But,
after the first combustion, it is necessary that it should be washed, cleansed, and dealbated on
the fire until all things become one colour; with which, afterwards, it behoves you to mix the
residuum of the whole humour, and then its colour will be exalted. For the elements, being
diligently cooked in the fire, rejoice, and are changed into different natures, because the liquefied,
which is the lead, becomes not-liquefied, the humid becomes dry, the thick body becomes a
spirit, and the fleeing spirit becomes strong and fit to do battle against the fire. Whence the
Philosopher saith: Convert the elements and thou shalt find what thou seekest. But to convert the
elements is to make the moist dry and the fugitive fixed. These things being accomplished by the
disposition, let the operator leave it in the fire until the gross be made subtle, and the subtle
remain as a tingeing spirit. Know ye, also, that the death and life of the elements proceed from
fire, and that the composite germinates itself, and produces that which ye desire, God favouring.
But when the colours begin ye shall behold the miracles of the wisdom of God, until the Tyrian
colour be accomplished. O wonder-working Nature, tingeing other natures! O heavenly Nature,
separating and converting the elements by regimen! Nothing, therefore, is more precious than
these Natures in that Nature which multiplies the composite, and makes fixed and scarlet.
The Sixty-Sixth Dictum.
Exemiganus saith:- Thou hast already treated, O Lucas, concerning living and concealed silver,
which is Magnesia, as it behoves thee, and thou hast commanded posterity to prove [or to
experiment] and to read the books, knowing what the Philosophers have said: Search the latent
spirit and disesteem it not, seeing that when it remains it is a great arcanum and effects many
good things.
The Sixty-Seventh Dictum.
Lucas saith:- I testify to posterity, and what I set forth is more lucid than are your words, that the
Philosopher saith: Burn the copper, burn the silver, burn the gold.
Hermiganus replies:- Behold something more dark than ever!
The Turba answereth:- Illumine, therefore, that which is dark.
And he:- As to that which he said - Burn, burn, burn, the diversity is only in the names, for they
are one and the same thing.
And they:- Woe unto you! how shortly hast thou dealt with it! why art thou Poisoned with jealousy!
And he:- Is it desirable that I should speak more clearly?
And they:- Do so.

And he:- I signify that to whiten is to burn, but to make red is life. For the envious have multiplied
many names that they might lead posterity astray, to whom I testify that the definition of this Art is
the liquefaction of the body and the separation of the soul from the body, seeing that copper, like
a man, has a soul and a body. Therefore, it behoves you, 0 all ye Sons of the Doctrine, to destroy
the body and extract the soul therefrom! Wherefore the Philosophers said that the body does not
penetrate the body, but that there is a subtle nature, which is the soul, and it is this which tinges
and penetrates the body. In nature, therefore, there is a body and there is a soul.
The Turba answereth:- Despite your desire to explain, you have put forth dark words.
And he:- I signify that the envious have narrated and said that the splendour of Saturn does not
appear unless it perchance be dark when it ascends in the air, that Mercury is hidden by the rays
of the Sun, that quicksilver vivifies the body by its fiery strength, and thus the work is
accomplished. But Venus, when she becomes oriental, precedes the Sun.
The Sixty-Eighth Dictum.
Attamus saith:- Know, O all ye investigators of this Art, that our work, of which ye have been
inquiring, is produced by the generation of the sea, by which and with which, after God, the work
is completed! Take, therefore, Halsut and old sea stones, and boil with coals until they become
white. Then extinguish in white vinegar. If 24 ounces thereof have been boiled, let the heat be
extinguished with a third part of the vinegar, that is, 8 ounces; pound with white vinegar, and cook
in the sun and black earth for 42 days. But the second work is performed from the tenth day of
the month of September to the tenth day [or grade] of Libra. Do not impose the vinegar a second
time in this work, but leave the same to be cooked until all its vinegar be dried up and it becomes
a fixed earth, like Egyptian earth. And the fact that one work is congealed more quickly and
another more slowly, arises from the diversity of cooking. But if the place where it is cooked be
humid and dewy it is congealed more quickly, while if it be dry it is congealed more slowly.
The Sixty-Ninth Dictum.
Florus saith:- I am thinking of perfecting thy treatise, O Mundus, for thou has not accomplished
the disposition of the cooking!
And he:- Proceed, O Philosopher!
And Florus:- I teach you, O Sons of the Doctrine, that the sign of the goodness of the first
decoction is the extraction of its redness!
And he:- Describe what is redness.
And Florus:- When ye see that the matter is entirely black, know that whiteness has been hidden
in the belly of that blackness. Then it behoves you to extract that whiteness most subtly from that
blackness, for ye know how to discern between them. But in the second decoction let that
whiteness be placed in a vessel with its instruments, and let it be cooked gently until it become
completely white. But when, O all ye seekers after this Art, ye shall perceive that whiteness
appear and flowing over all, be certain that redness is hid in that whiteness! However, it does not
behove you to extract it, but rather to cook it until the whole become a most deep red, with which
nothing can compare. Know also that the first blackness is produced out of the nature of Marteck,
and that redness is extracted from that blackness, which red has improved the black, and has
made peace between the fugitive and the non-fugitive, reducing the two into one.
The Turba answereth:- And why was this?

And he:- Because the cruciated matter when it is submerged in the body, changes it into an
unalterable and indelible nature. It behoves you, therefore, to know this sulphur which blackens
the body. And know ye that the same sulphur cannot be handled, but it cruciates and tinges. And
the sulphur which blackens is that which does not open the door to the fugitive and turns into the
fugitive with the fugitive. Do you not see that the cruciating does not cruciate with harm or
corruption, but by co-adunation and utility of things? For if its victim were noxious and
inconvenient, it would not be embraced thereby until its colours were extracted from it unalterable
and indelible. This we have called water of sulphur, which water we have prepared for the red
tinctures; for the rest it does not blacken; but that which does blacken, and this does not come to
pass without blackness, I have testified to be the key of the work.
The Seventieth Dictum.
Mundus saith:- Know, all ye investigators of this Art, that the head is all things, which if it hath not,
all that it imposes profits nothing. Accordingly, the Masters have said that what is perfected is
one, and a diversity of natures does not improve that thing, but one and a suitable nature, which it
behoves you to rule carefully, for by ignorance of ruling some have erred. Do not heed, therefore,
the plurality of these compositions, nor those things which the philosophers have enumerated in
their books. For the nature of truth is one, and the followers of Nature have termed it that one
thing in the belly whereof is concealed the natural arcanum. This arcanum is neither seen nor
known except by the Wise. He, therefore, who knows how to extract its complexion and rules
equably, for him shall a nature rise forth therefrom which shall conquer all natures, and then shall
that word be fulfilled which was written by the Masters, namely, that Nature rejoices in Nature,
Nature overcomes Nature, and Nature contains Nature; at the same time there are not many or
diverse Natures, but one having in itself its own natures and properties, by which it prevails over
other things. Do you not see that the Master has begun with one and finished one? Hence has he
called those unities Sulphureous Water, conquering all Nature.
The Seventy-First Dictum.
Bracus saith:- How elegantly Mundus hath described this sulphureous water! For unless solid
bodies are destroyed by a nature wanting a body, until the bodies become not-bodies, and even
as a most tenuous spirit, ye cannot [attain] that most tenuous and tingeing soul, which is hidden
in the natural belly. And know that unless the body be withered up and so destroyed that it dies,
and unless ye extract from it its soul, which is a tingeing spirit, ye are unable to tinge a body
therewith.
The Seventy-Second Dictum.
Philosophus saith:- The first composition, that is, the body of Magnesia, is made out of several
things, although they become one, and are called by one name, which the ancients have termed
Albar of copper. But when it is ruled it is called by ten names, taken from the colours which
appear in the regimen of the body of this Magnesia. It is necessary, therefore, that the lead be
turned into blackness; then the ten aforesaid shall appear in the ferment of gold, with sericon,
which is a composition called by ten names. When all these things have been said, we mean
nothing more by these names than Albar of copper, because it tinges every body which has
entered into the composition. But composition is twofold - one is humid, the other is dry. When
they are cooked prudently they become one, and are called the good thing of several names. But
when it becomes red it is called Flower of Gold, Ferment of Gold, Gold of Coral, Gold of the Beak.
It is also called redundant red sulphur and red orpiment. But while it remains crude lead of
copper, it is called bars and plates of metal. Behold I have revealed its names when it is raw,
which also we should distinguish from the names when it has been cooked. Let it therefore be
pondered over. It behoves me now to exhibit to you the quantity of the fire, and the numbers of its
days, and the diversity of intensity thereof in every grade, so that he who shall possess this book
may belong unto himself, and be freed from poverty, so that he shall remain secure in that middle

way which is closed to those who are deficient in this most precious art. I have seen, therefore,
many kinds of fire. One is made out of straw and cinder, coals and flame, but one without flame.
Experiment shows that there are intermediate grades between these kinds. But lead is lead of
copper, in which is the whole arcanum. Now, concerning the days of the night in which will be the
perfection of the most great arcanum, I will treat in its Proper place in what follows. And know
most assuredly that if a little gold be placed in the composition, there will result a patent and white
tincture. Wherefore also a sublime gold and a patent gold is found in the treasuries of the former
philosophers. Wherefore those things are unequal which they introduce into their composition.
Inasmuch as the elements are commingled and are turned into lead of copper, coming out of their
own former natures, they are turned into a new nature. Then they are called one nature and one
genus. These things being accomplished, it is placed in a glass vessel, unless in a certain way
the composition drinks the water and is altered in its colours. In every grade it is beheld, when it is
coloured by a venerable redness. Although concerning this elixir we read in the sayings of the
philosophers: Take gold, occurring frequently, it is only needful to do so once. Wishing, therefore,
to know the certitude of the adversary, consider what Democritus saith, how he begins speaking
from bottom to top, then reversing matters he proceeds from top to bottom. For, he said: Take
iron, lead, and albar for copper, which reversing, he again says: And our copper for coins, lead for
gold, gold for gold of coral, and gold of coral for gold of crocus. Again, in the second place, when
he begins from the top to the bottom, he saith: Take gold, coin, copper, lead, and iron; he shews,
therefore, by his sayings that only semi-gold is taken. And without doubt gold is not changed into
rust without lead and copper, and unless it be imbued with vinegar known by the wise, until, being
cooked, it is turned into redness. This, therefore, is the redness which all the Philosophers
signified, because, how ever they said: Take gold and it becomes gold of coral; Take gold of coral
and it becomes purple gold - all these things are only names of those colours, for it behoves them
that vinegar be placed in it, because these colours come from it. But by these things which the
Philosophers have mentioned under various names, they have signified stronger bodies and
forces. It is taken, therefore, once, that it may become rubigo and then vinegar is imposed on it.
For when the said colours appear, it is necessary that each be decocted in forty days, so that it
may be desiccated, the water being consumed; finally being imbued and placed in the vessel, it is
cooked until its utility appear. Its first grade becomes as a citrine mucra, the second as red, the
third as the dry pounded crocus of the vulgar. So is it imposed upon coin.
Conclusion.
Agmon saith:- I will add the following by way of a corollary. Whosoever does not liquefy and
coagulate errs greatly. Therefore, make the earth black; separate the soul and the water thereof,
afterwards whiten; so shall ye find what ye seek. I say unto you that whoso makes earth black
and then dissolves with fire, till it becomes even like unto a naked sword, who also fixes the
whole with consuming fire, deserves to be called happy, and shall be exalted above the circle of
the world. This much concerning the revelation of our stone, is, we doubt not, enough for the
Sons of the Doctrine. The strength thereof, shall never become corrupted, but the same, when it
is placed in the fire, shall be increased. If you seek to dissolve, it shall be dissolved; but if you
would coagulate, it shall be coagulated. Behold, no one is without it, and yet all do need it! There
are many names given to it, and yet it is called by one only, while, if need be, it is concealed. It is
also a stone and not a stone, spirit, soul, and body; it is white, volatile, concave, hairless, cold,
and yet no one can apply the tongue with impunity to its surface. If you wish that it should fly, it
flies; if you say that it is water, you Speak the truth; if you say that it is not water, you speak
falsely. Do not then be deceived by the multiplicity of names, but rest assured that it is one thing,
unto which nothing alien is added. Investigate the place thereof, and add nothing that is foreign.
Unless the names were multiplied, so that the vulgar might be deceived, many would deride our
wisdom.

What Is Alchemy?

Alchemy Is a Craft
(from "The Alchemy of Craft" in A Way of Working by D.M. Dooling)

The gold of alchemy was simply hastened perfection, inner and outer, the
divinization of matter and man. This idea is certainly not strange to any
craftsman. "When a man undertakes to create something," wrote Paracelsus, "he
establishes a new heaven, as it were, and from it the work that he desires to
create flows into him." In order that it may be expressed, that it may resound, the
Word must be made flesh; immortality must be incarnated outwardly in gold and
inwardly in the development of a subtle body within this ordinary body: the
"glorious body" or "diamond body" of oriental tradition, the "spiritual body " of the
Christian.
This "becoming" is what alchemy is about. Its process can also be expressed by
the traditional formulas of initiation: the suffering, death, and resurrection of the
god or the neophyte, represented by the substances in the crucible or by the
material of the craftsman -- the symbolic formula of transformation. Whether raw
material, base metal, divine or human spirit, there must be the suffering of
purification and separation. The patience that is the quality more vital to the
craftsman is, in the final analysis, no other than this suffering, as it applies to the
process of creation operating in and upon the artisan himself (Latin patiens from
pati, to suffer).
And as the alchemical substance is "punished," so is the craftsman's material:
clay is pounded; flax beaten; wool teased, carded, and twisted; metal softened
and struck. The substance, whether material or human, must change its
character, be torn into separate elements in order to be reformed into something
other -- it must "die" in order to be reborn.
And here we come to the central tenet of alchemy: its chief absurdity, proof
(some would say) that in its operational sense at least it was all superstition and
quackery; the idea that matter is alive. Yet, strangely enough, this is something
that all craftsmen know to be true. They know that their material has a life of its
own, a history, a character, needs, and possibilities unlike any other. They know
that they must feel and understand this life so that a relationship can appear
between it and their own. They accept a pattern for their work that is not theirs,
that comes to them, as it were, from Above; but their work is not merely to obey
and to imitate, not even only to "speed the process of nature," but to bring
something peculiarly their own, some element of themselves, to unite with that
other living entity, the material between their hands. Otherwise the relation does
not exist; the material is indeed dead, and they themselves no more than
copyists. The gold of the alchemists was not the same as natural gold; it was
"living" god. The craftsman added something even to the noblest of metals by his
active relation with it.

The craftsman, as well as the alchemist, knows that his central task is the
creation of himself; and it is above all for this aim that he strives with endless
patience -- as it is said in the Emerald Tablet of Trismegistus, separating "the
subtle from the gross, softly and with great care" to make what his hands touch
turn to gold.

Alchemy Is a Science
(from Alchemy by Franz Hartmann)

Alchemy is a Science of Soul that results from an understanding of God, Nature,

and Man. A perfect knowledge of any of one them cannot be obtained without the
knowledge of the other two, for these three are one and inseparable. Alchemy is
not merely an intellectual but a spiritual science, because that which belongs to
the spirit can only be spiritually known. Nevertheless, it is also a science dealing
with material things, for spirit and matter are only two opposite manifestations or
poles of the eternal One.
Alchemy in its more material aspect teaches how minerals, metals, plants,
animals, and men may be generated or made to grow from their "seeds." In other
words, how that generation, which is accomplished during long periods of time in
the due course of the action of evolution and natural law, may be accomplished
in a comparatively short time, if these natural laws are guided and supplied with
the proper material by the spiritual knowledge of man. There is no doubt that gold
can be made to grow by alchemical means, though it requires an alchemist to
make the experiment succeed, and he who is attracted by the material power of
gold will not obtain possession of the spiritual power necessary to practice the
art.
It is therefore a grave mistake to confuse alchemy with chemistry. Modern
chemistry is an artificial science that deals only with the external forms in which
the elements of matter are manifesting themselves. It never produces anything
truly new to creation; it can only recombine atoms and molecules into different
substances. We may mix and compound and decompose chemical bodies an
unlimited number of times and cause them to appear in various different forms,
but at the end, we will have no augmentation of the underlying substances nor
anything more than the recombinations of the substances that have been
employed at the beginning. Alchemy does not mix or compound anything; it
causes that which already pre-exists in a latent state to become active and grow.
Alchemy is, therefore, more comparable to biology than to chemistry; and, in fact,
the growth of a plant, a tree, or an animal or the evolution of whole species are
alchemical processes going on in the laboratory of nature, and performed by the
Great Alchemist -- the power of the divine Mind acting in nature.

Alchemy Is an Art

(from Alchemy by Franz Hartmann)

Alchemy is also an art, and as every art requires an artist to exercise it, likewise
this divine science and art can be practiced only by those who are in possession
of the divine power necessary for that purpose. It is true that the external
manipulations required for the production of certain alchemical preparations may,
like an ordinary chemical process, be taught to anybody capable of reasoning.
However, the results that such a person would accomplish would be without life,
for only he in whom the true life has awakened can awaken it from its sleep in
matter and cause visible forms to grow from the primordial Chaos of nature.
Alchemy in its highest aspect deals with the spiritual regeneration of man and
teaches how a god may be made out of a human being or, to express it more
correctly, how to establish the conditions necessary for the development of divine
powers in man, so that a human being may became a god by the power of God
in the same sense that a seed becomes a plant by the aid of the Four Elements
and the action of the invisible Fifth Element (the Quintessence or Life Force).

What Is the Emerald Tablet?

The Emerald Tablet is an ancient artifact that reveals a profound spiritual
technology, which has survived to this day despite centuries of effort to suppress
it. Encoded within the tablet's mysterious wording is a powerful formula that
works in very specific and comprehensible steps on all levels of reality at once -the physical, the mental, and the spiritual -- and shows us how to achieve
personal transformation and even accelerate the evolution of our species. The
source of alchemy and the Hermetic sciences, the tablet's universal approach
made it forbidden knowledge, condemned by patriarchal powers for thousands of
years, from the Egyptian priesthood, to the medieval Church, to our modern
politicians and religious leaders. To ensure the survival of such "dangerous"
principles, which guide people to higher states of consciousness, the ancients
concealed their knowledge in a succinct declaration that has become a time
capsule of wisdom for future generations.
Molded out of a single piece of green
crystal, the Emerald Tablet carries a
prophetic message full of hidden meaning.
Although its true origin is lost in legends that
go back over 10,000 years, the wondrous
artifact was translated into Greek by
Alexandrian scholars and actually put on
display in Egypt in 330 BC. Around the year
400 AD, it was reportedly buried somewhere
on the Giza plateau to protect it from religious
zealots who were burning libraries around the

world at that time. Many believe the tablet still lies hidden there.
Working only with these early translations, many seekers of truth recognized in
subsequent centuries that the Emerald Tablet contained a secret formula for
transforming reality. Many alchemical drawings (such as the one to the left called
the Azoth of the Philosophers), are really schematic diagrams of the steps and
operations of this Emerald Formula. The alchemists used these diagrams like
Eastern mandalas and meditated on them in their laboratories to achieve altered
states of consciousness. (To see an explanation of Azoth of the Philosophers,
click on the drawing.)
The uncredited source of many of the our mystical and religious traditions, the
tablet also inspired over 3,500 years of alchemy, a period in which some of the
most creative minds in the world delved into the intertwined mysteries of matter,
energy, soul, and spirit. Most medieval alchemists had copies of the tablet
hanging on their laboratory wall. It was the only guidance they needed in both
their meditation and practical work; it served as their Rosetta Stone for
deciphering the deliberately obscured terminology of their art.
As we enter the third millennium, the ancient formula is resurfacing in what
people perceive as mystical or paranormal events. Such experiences are in fact
simply the continuing expressions of the underlying alchemy of our lives. For
many decades, knowledge of this hidden pattern has been discussed only
among an elite group of esoteric scholars, but now, this amazing science of soul
is available to everyone. For those with the courage to see beyond the illusions
handed down to us by blind tradition, the Emerald Tablet's formula offers a way
to reinstate our rightful relationship with the universe.

Chart of
Correspondences
I. Correspondences of Chemical References
Operation

Processes

Calcination

Roasting;
Conflagration;
Reduction;

Elements
Fire
(Solve)

Metals
Lead

Chemical
Arcanum

Process
Colors

Process
Odors

Sulfuric
Acid
(Vitriol)

Black;
Magenta

Biting;
Brimstone

Trituration
Dissolution

Separation

Conjunction

Fermentation

Distillation

Coagulation

Dissolving;
Corrosion;
Cibation; Bain
Marie

Water

Sifting;
Filtration;
Fission;
Cutting

Air

Fixation;
Reunion;
Amalgamation;
Conglomeration

Earth

Tin
(Pewter)

Iron Oxide
(rust:action
of water on
metal)

Light
blue;
White

Acrid;
Vinegary

Iron
(Steel)

Sodium
Carbonate
(bubbling)

Red;
Orange

Rotten
Eggs

Copper;
(Bronze;
Brass;
Gold)

Sodium
Nitrate
(union with
Life Force)

Green

Chlorinic

Mercury
(Copper)

Liquor
Hepatis
(Balsam of
the Soul)

Bluegreen;
Turquoise

Putrid/
Perfumed
at same
time

Silver
(Mercury;
Antimony)

Black
Pulvis
Solaris

White;
Rainbow

Fresh;
After rain
smell

Gold
(Silver)

Red Pulvis
Solaris

Violet;
Purple

Flowery;
Heavenly
scented

(Solve)

(Solve)

(et or
conjunct)

Digestion;
Putrefaction;
Congelation;
Ceration

Sulfur

Potentizing;
Exaltation;
Cohobation;
Multiplication

Mercury

Sublimation;
Projection;
Fusion

Salt

(Coagula)

(Coagula)

(Coagula)

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II. Correspondences of Astrology and Numerology

Operation

Planet

Day of
Week

Planetary
Influence

Zodiac

Numerology

Octave

Calcination

Saturn

Saturday

Limitation;
Suppression of
emotions

Aries;
Sagittarius

Monad

Do

Dissolution

Jupiter

Thursday

Expansion;
Creation of
Sociality;
Humility

Cancer

Dyad

Re

Separation

Mars

Tuesday

Assertiveness;
Driving Energy

Scorpio

Triad

Mi

Conjunction

Venus
(Earth;
Sun)

Friday

Pleasure; Love;
Freeing of
emotions;
Confidence

Taurus

Tetrad

Fa

Fermentation

Mercury
(Venus)

Wednesday

Increased
consciousness;
Inspiration

Leo;
Capricorn

Pentad

So

Distillation

Moon
(Mercury)

Monday

Purification of
instincts;
Wisdom

Virgo;
Libra

Hexad

La

Coagulation

Sun
(Moon)

Sunday

Vitality; True
Individuality

Gemini;
Pisces;
Aquarius

Heptad

Si

Return to Top

III. Correspondences of Psychology

Operation

Psychology

Conscious
State

Intention
or Desire

Negative
Qualities

Positive
Qualities

Calcination

Ego; Purification of
thoughts;
Thinking
Funtion

Materialistic;
Neurotic; Fire
needed

Penitence;
Maturity;
Planning;
Hope;
Integration

Stubborn;
Slow; Resigned;Cold;
Fearful;
Phlegmatic

Practical;
Patient;
Prudent

Dissolution

Id; Subconscious;
Purifi- caiton
of feel- ings;
Feeling
Function.

Emotional
blockages;
Nightmares;
Water needed

Beauty;
Friends;
Romance;
Pleasure

Excessive;
Greedy;
Selfish love;
Limited view;
Melancholic

Generous;
Sociable;
Optimistic

Separation

Essences;
Purification
of will;
Intuitive
Function

Mindful; Aware
of opposites:
Air needed

Affluence,
wealth;
Courage;
Power

Cruel; Violent; Angry;

Controlling;
Willful;
Choleric

Courage;
Daring;
Initiating;
Determined

Conjunction

Essences
united;
Purfi- cation
of body;
Sensa- tion
Function

Blissful; In love;
Enraptured;
Earth needed

Fertility;
Marriage;
Homemaking

Lustful;
Wanton;
Possessive;
Passionate;
Sanguine

Sensitive;
Loving; Kind;

Fermentation

Inspiration;
Religious
fervor;
Purifi- cation
of soul

Higher consciousness;
Beyond
physical desire;
Sulfur needed

Wisdom;
Intuition;
Speech;
Divine
union

Tricky; Lying;
Sneaky; Not
connected to
world

Intelligent;
Hopeful;
Lively;
Imaginative

Distillation

Divine Consciousness;
True objectivity; Purification of
spirit

Equanimity;
One-pointed;
Point source of
consciousness;
Mercury needed

Knowledge;
Journey to
Other Side;
Psychic
powers

Unemotional;
Detached;
Aloof

Reflective;
Intuitive

Coagulation

Transpersonal Self ;
God; The

Union with
God; Nirvana;
Satori;

Success;
Illumination;
Truly

Arrogant;
Proud; Overconfident

Genuinely
Confident;
Authentic;

Appreciative;
Cheerful

Stone;
Purifi- cation
of presence

Synchronicities;
Aware of nonself; Salt needed

righteous;
Creative
realization

Whole

Return to Top

IV. Correspondences of Ancient Traditions

Operation

Emerald
Tablet

Calcination

Its father
is the
Sun.

Dissolution

Yogic Path

Buddhism

Cabala

Bible
Church

Revelation

Yama
(Abstention)

Asceticism;
Concentration

Malkuth
(matter)

Ephesus

Seal of the
White
Horse

Its
mother
the
Moon.

Niyama
(Personal
improvement);
Asana (Free
body energy)

Access
State;
Meditation;
the
Jhanas

Yesod
(foundation)

Laodicea

Seal of
Silence

Separation

The
Wind
carries it
in its
belly.

Pratyahara
(Control of
mind and
senses)

Mindfulness;
Basic
Insight;
Dukkha

Hod;
Netsah
(splendor; firmness)

Pergamos

Seal of the
Red Horse

Conjunction

Its nurse
is the
Earth.

Pranayama
(Union of the
two parts of
Life Force)

Nirvana;
Brilliant
lights;
Rapture

Tifereth
(magnificence)

Smyrna

Seal of the
Black
Horse

Fermentation

Separate
the Earth
from
Fire, the
Subtle
from the
Gross.

Dharana
(Fixing mind
on object;
Concentrate)

Avatar;
Realization
of Higher
Reality

Gevurah;
Hesed
(beauty;
strength)

Thyatira

Seal of the
Pale Horse

Distillation

It rises
from
Earth to

Dhyana
(Meditation:
Undisturbed

Effortless
Insight;
Anatta;

Binah;
Hokmah
(Intelli-

Philadelphia

Seal of the
Upheavals

Coaglation

Heaven
and descends
again to
Earth.

flow of
thought)

Anicca

gence;
wisdom)

Glory of
Whole
Universe;
greatest
Force of
all powers.

Samadhi
(Union with
object of
contemplation)

Nirodh;
Beyond
consciousness

Kether/
En Soph
(crown
or God)

Sardis

Seal of the
Souls Slain

Return to Top

V. Correspondences of Archetypal Images

Operation

Mythological

Archangel

Images

Shamanism

Animal
Totem

Calcination

Cronus;
Satan; Apollo;
Hephaestus

Cassiel

Hellfire;
Funeral pyre;
Cremation

Not Doing;
First Attention

Lizard;
Bear;
Crow

Dissolution

Dionysus;
Rhea;
Demeter

Sachiel

Floods; Melting; Tears;

Intoxication

Stalking;
Personal
Power

Fish;
Frog;
Turtle

Separation

Osiris;
Prometheus;
Heracles

Samael

Swords; Dismemberment;
Divorce

Seeing;
Second
Attention

Owl;
Beaver

Conjunction

Cupid (Eros);
Aphrodite;
Zeus wives;
Epimetheus

Anael

Glue; Chains;
Sexual acts;
Angels; UFOs
landing

Path of Heart;
Leaving the
Tonal;
Spiritual
Warrior

Deer;
Buffalo

Fermentation

Isis; Athene;

Raphael;

Thunderstorms

Meeting the

Snake

Hermes;
Jesus

Michael

& Lightening;
Grapes or wine
barrels

Ally; Entering
the Nagual
World

Rainbow
Man;
Wolf;
Coyote

Distillation

Daedulus;
Leda and the
Swan; Diana
and the Stag;
Pegasus

Gabriel

Dew; Rain;
Baptismal
fonts; Lotus
flower

Clear Determination;
Magical Will

Mountain
Lion;
White
Buffalo

Coagulation

Ganymedes;
Christ;
Krishna

Michael;
Raphael

Wings; Gold;
Stone or Egg;
Diamond;
Heaven

Impeccability;
Projection;
Shamanic
Flight

Eagle

Return to Top

VI. Correspondences of Physiological Alchemy

Operation

Chakra

Physiological

Spectral
Position

Gemstones

Healing
Effects

Calcination

Muladhara
(Physical;
Instinctual;
Lead Chakra)

Sacrum;
Anus;
Gonads; Thick
mucus

Infrared;
Dark Red

Garnet; Red
Jasper;
Hematite;
Obsidian

Courage;
Strength;
Grounding

Dissolution

Svadhisthana
(Sexuality;
Sociality; Tin
Chakra)

Genitals;
Spleen;
Lungs; Black
bile

Orange

Carnelian;
Fire Opal

Warm energy;
Fertility

Separation

Manipura
(Will;
Intellect; Iron
Chakra)

Solar plexus;
Gallbladder;
Navel; Adrenals; Red bile

Bright
Yellow

Yellow
Citrine;
Tiger Eye;
Ruby

Detoxification;
Self-esteem;
Uplifting;
Cheerful;
Balancing

Conjunction

Anahata

Heart; Blood

Green

Malachite;

Strengthens

(Emotions;
Feelings;
Copper
Chakra)

Emerald;
Jade; Aventurine; Kunzite; Quartz

heart/blood;
Releases
fear;
Enhances
dreams

Fermentation

Vishuddha
(Concepts;
Communication;
Mercury
Chakra)

Throat;
Thymus;
Thyroid;
Sound;
Vibration

Turquoise;
Light Blue

Turquoise;
Blue Topaz;
Aquamarine;
Iolite

Balance of
nerves; Align
chakras;
Creativity;
Channeling;
Vitalizing
energy

Distillation

Ajna
(Intuition;
Second
Sight; Silver
Chakra)

Brow;
Pituitary;
Liver; Life
Force

Indigo;
Deep Blue

Lapis Lazuli;
Sodalite;
Sapphire;
Moldavite;
Opal;
Moonstone

Lymphatic;
Mental clarity;
Psychic
powers

Coagulation

Sahasrara
(Imagination;
Gold Chakra)

Brain; Pineal;
Crown of
head; Elixir;
Ambosia

Violet;
Ultraviolet

Amethyst;
Fluorite;
Yellow Topaz; Pearl;
Diamond

General
whole body
healing;
Regeneration

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VII. Correspondences of the Tarot Tradition

Operation

Tarot Lunar
Conjunction

Tarot Solar
Conjunction

Tarot Stellar
Conjunction

Calcination

(1) Magician (Mercury,

Hermes, Thoth, God)
Search for truth;
conscious willpowers;
realization of falsity.

(8) Justice (Themis,

Judge) Disposition;
caution in taking
advice; independent
view; prejudging.

(15) Devil
(Hermaphrodite,
Typhon, Set) Fission;
adversary; revealer of
knowledge; impurity.

Dissolution

(2) High Priestess

(Female Pope, Isis)
Pure experience;
unconscious powers;

(9) Hermit (Saturn)

Meditation; time;
wisdom; sage;
withdrawl from society;

(16) Tower (Athanor,

Babel, Sodom) Higher
dissolution; punishment
of pride or ego;

mystical union; lack of

foresight.

self-absorption;
slowing down to feel
things.

ruination of worldly
approach.

Separation

(3) Empress (Queen,

Soul, Ishtar, Demeter)
Fertility and birth;
beauty; receptivity;
recognizing essences;
must do something.

(10) Wheel of Fortune

(Midas) Overview of
processes; change;
eternal return; reincarnation; bad or good
luck; Fate.

(17) Stars (Anahita,

Aphrodite) Cosmic
energy and
perspective; new
beginnings; salvation;
faith; hope.

Conjunction

(4) Emperor (King,

Spirit, Dionysus) Ego
stabilization; independence; active creativity;
impregnation; power
over status quo.

(11) Strength
(Hercules, Samson)
Exhaltation; strength of
purpose; applied will;
courage to proceed;
self confi- dence.

(18) Moon (Diana)

Hieros gamos;
uncertainty; changeability; open to powerful
unseen influences;
deception; cults.

Fermentation

(5) Hierophant (High

Priest, Pope, Zeus,
Jupiter) Esoteric
teachings; advice;
healing; initiation;
inspiration;
conscience.

(12) Hanged Man

(Christ, Odin) Death of
ego; sacrifice of self;
adaptability; higher
purpose; release of
essences.

(19) Sun (Apollo)

Multiplication; health;
wealth; gain; Projection;
power; focused energy
to those who succeed;
true Elixir starts to flow.

Distillation

(6) Lovers (Cupid,

Venus) Duality;
recombination; choice;
decision; gaining
perspective.

(13) Death (Orpheus)

Complete mortification;
wasted lives;
transform- ation;
rebirth; NDE.

(20) Judgement (God)

Outside Wheel of
Fortune; awakening;
resurrection; one
universal Life Force.

Coagulation

(7) Chariot (Mars)

Sublimation; achievement; control of
opposing forces;
victory.

(14) Temperance
(Maria Prophetissa)
Precipitation; mercy;
moderation; service;
conserving energy.

(21) World (Hermes)

Fusion; success;
immortal presence;
fulfillment; return to
innocence; sex act in
head; OOBE.

The Emerald Formula

The Emerald Formula is a seven-stepped process derived from the precepts of
the Emerald Tablet that became the basis of all the alchemist's experiments.

Although the alchemists went to great pains to conceal the true order of the steps
of the formula, the correct order according to the Emerald Tablet is: Calcination,
Dissolution, Separation, Conjunction, Fermentation, Distillation, and Coagulation.
The first four steps take place Below, in the realm of matter. The last three steps
take place Above, in the realm of mind and imagination. This dynamic process is
graphically depicted in the Ouroboros figure below. To find out more about a
particular step, click on the corresponding operation in the drawing below:

CALCINATION is the first of seven major operations in the alchemy of

transformation.
Chemically, the Calcination process involves heating a substance in a crucible
or over an open flame until it is reduced to ashes. In the Arcanum Experiment,
Calcination is represented by sulfuric acid, which the alchemists made from a
naturally occurring substance called Vitriol. Sulfuric acid is a powerful corrosive
that eats away flesh and reacts with all metals except gold.
Psychologically, this is the destruction of ego and our attachments to material
possessions. Calcination is usually a natural humbling process as we are
gradually assaulted and overcome by the trials and tribulations of life, though it
can be a deliberate surrender of our inherent hubris gained through a variety of
spiritual disciplines that ignite the fire of introspection and self-evaluation.

Physiologically, the Fire of Calcination can be experienced as the metabolic

discipline or aerobic activity that tunes the body, burning off excesses from
overindulgence and producing a lean, mean, fighting machine. Calcination
begins in the Base or Lead Chakra at the sacral cup at the base of the spine.
In Society, the Calcination is expressed in the lives of revolutionaries,
conquerors, and other warriors who try to overthrow the status quo.
On the Planetary level, it is the Fire of creation, the formation of a livable
environment from molten matter and volcanic ashes.

CORRESPONDENCES OF CALCINATION
According to the Emerald Tablet, "Its father is the Sun." Element: Fire. Color:
Magenta; Purple-Red (color of this page). Planet: Saturn. Metal: Lead.
DISSOLUTION is the second major operation in the alchemy of transformation.
Chemically, it is the dissolving the ashes from Calcination in water. In the
Arcanum Experiment, Dissolution is represented by iron oxide or rust, which
illustrated the potentially corrosive powers of Water on even the hardest of
metals. When processed, Vitriol breaks down into sulfuric acid and iron oxide,
which are the first two arcana or secret ingredients. The Egyptians smelted Iron
as far back as 1500 BCE and used iron compounds in tonics and as
disinfectants.
Psychologically, this represents a further breaking down of the artificial
structures of the psyche by total immersion in the unconscious, non-rational,
feminine or rejected part of our minds. It is, for the most part, an unconscious
process in which our conscious minds let go of control to allow the surfacing of
buried material. It is opening the floodgates and generating new energy from the
waters held back. Dissolution can be experienced as "flow," the bliss of being
well-used and actively engaged in creative acts without traditional prejudices,
personal hang-ups, or established hierarchy getting in the way.
Physiologically, Dissolution is the continuance of the kundalini experience, the
opening-up of energy channels in the body to recharge and elevate every single
cell. Dissolution takes place in the Genital or Tin Chakra and involves the lungs
and spleen.
In Society, the process of steady growth through gradual Dissolution is
exemplified by agrarian, monastic, or agriculture-based lifestyles.

On the Planetary level, Dissolution is the Great Flood, the cleansing of the
earth of all that is inferior.

CORRESPONDENCES OF DISSOLUTION
According to the Emerald Tablet, "Its mother is the Moon." Element: Water.
Color: Light Blue (color of this page). Planet: Jupiter. Metal: Tin.
SEPARATION is the third of the operations of transformation in alchemy.
Chemically, it is the isolation of the components of Dissolution by filtration and
then discarding any ungenuine or unworthy material. In the Arcanum Experiment,
Separation is represented by the compound sodium carbonate, which separates
out of water and appears as white soda ash on dry lakebeds. The oldest known
deposits are in Egypt. The alchemists sometimes referred to this compound as
Natron, which meant the common tendency in all salts to form solid bodies or
precipitates.
Psychologically, this process is the rediscovery of our essence and the
reclaiming of dream and visionary "gold" previously rejected by the masculine,
rational part of our minds. It is, for the most part, a conscious process in which
we review formerly hidden material and decide what to discard and what to
reintegrate into our refined personality. Much of this shadowy material is things
we are ashamed of or were taught to hide away by our parents, churches, and
schooling. Separation is letting go of the self-inflicted restraints to our true nature,
so we can shine through.
Physiologically, Separation is following and controlling the breath in the body as
it works with the forces of Spirit and Soul to give birth to new energy and physical
renewal. Separation begins in the Navel or Iron Chakra located at the level of the
solar plexus.
In Society, Separation is expressed as the establishment of clans, cities, and
nationalities.
Separation on the Planetary level is represented by the formation of landmasses
and islands from the powerful forces of Air, Water, Earth, and Fire.

CORRESPONDENCES OF SEPARATION
According to the Emerald Tablet, "The Wind carries it in its belly." Element: Air.
Color: Orange-Red (color of this page). Planet: Mars. Metal: Iron.

CONJUNCTION is the fourth of the seven operations of alchemy.

Chemically, it is the recombination of the saved elements from Separation into a
new substance. In the Arcanum Experiment, Conjunction is symbolized by a
nitrate compound known as cubic-saltpeter or potassium nitrate, which the
alchemists called Natron or simply Salt. Blue-colored Natron acid (aqua fortis)
was made by mixing potassium nitrate with sulfuric acid and was used to
separate silver from gold. The inert residue precipitated from the acid during the
reaction like a child being born.
Psychologically, it is empowerment of our true selves, the union of both the
masculine and feminine sides of our personalities into a new belief system or an
intuitive state of consciousness. The alchemists referred to it as the Lesser
Stone, and after it is achieved, the adept is able to clearly discern what needs to
be done to achieve lasting enlightenment, which is union with the Overself.
Often, synchronicities begin to occur that confirm the alchemist is on the right
track.
Physiologically, Conjunction is using the bodys sexual energies for personal
transformation. Conjunction takes place in the body at the level of the Heart or
Copper Chakra.
In Society, it is the growth of crafts and technology to master the environment.
On the Planetary level, Conjunction occurs when primordial life forms are
created from the energy of the Sun or lightning.

CORRESPONDENCES OF CONJUNCTION
According to the Emerald Tablet, "The Earth is its nurse." Element: Earth.
Color: Green (color of this page). Planet: Venus. Metal: Copper.
FERMENTATION is the fifth operation in the alchemy of transformation.
Fermentation is a two-stepped process that begins with the Putrefaction of the
hermaphroditic "child" from the Conjunction resulting in its death and resurrection
to a new level of being. The Fermentation phase then begins with the
introduction of new life into the product of Conjunction to strengthen it and insure
its survival.
Chemically, Fermentation is the growth of a ferment (bacteria) in organic
solutions, such as occurs in the fermenting of milk to produce curds and cheese
or in the fermenting of grapes to make wine. In the Arcanum Experiment, the
process of Fermentation is represented by a compound called Liquor Hepatis,

which is an oily, reddish-brown mixture of ammonia and the rotten-eggsmelling compound hydrogen sulfide. Egyptian alchemists made ammonia by
heating camel dung in sealed containers and thought of it as a kind of refined
Mercury that embodied the life force. Liquor Hepatis means "Liquor of the Liver,"
which they believed was the seat of the Soul, and the color they associated with
the compound was green, the color of bile. Surprisingly, Liquor Hepatis exudes a
wonderful fragrance, and the alchemists made a perfume of it called "Balsam of
the Soul."
Psychologically, the Fermentation process starts with the inspiration of spiritual
power from Above that reanimates, energizes, and enlightens the alchemist. Out
of the blackness of his Putrefaction comes the yellow Ferment, which appears
like a golden wax flowing out of the foul matter of the Soul. Its arrival is
announced by a brilliant display of colors and meaningful visions called the
"Peacocks Tail." Fermentation can be achieved through various activities that
include intense prayer, desire for mystical union, breakdown of the personality,
transpersonal therapy, psychedelic drugs, and deep meditation. Fermentation is
living inspiration from something totally beyond us.
Physiologically, Fermentation is the rousing of living energy (chi or kundalini) in
the body to heal and vivify. It is expressed as vibratory tones and spoken truths
emerging from the Throat or Mercury Chakra.
In Society, the Fermentation experience is the basis of religion and mystical
awareness.
On the Planetary level, it is the evolution of life to produce higher consciousness.

CORRESPONDENCES OF FERMENTATION
According to the Emerald Tablet, during Fermentation, we raise consciousness
from the darkness of the animal body through personal meditation and planetary
evolution. "Separate the Earth from Fire," it tells us, "the subtle from the gross,
gently and with great Ingenuity." Substance: Sulfur. Color: Turquoise (color of this
page). Planet: Venus. Metal: Mercury.
DISTILLATION is the sixth major operation in the alchemy of transformation.
Chemically, it is the boiling and condensation of the fermented solution to
increase its purity, such as takes place in the distilling of wine to make brandy. In
the Arcanum Experiment, Distillation is represented by a compound known as
Black Pulvis Solaris, which is made by mixing black antimony with purified sulfur.
The two immediately clump together to make what the alchemists called a
"bezoar," a kind of sublimated solid that forms in the intestines and brain.

Psychologically, Distillation is the agitation and sublimation of psychic forces

is necessary to ensure that no impurities from the inflated ego or deeply
submerged id are incorporated into the next and final stage. Personal Distillation
consists of a variety of introspective techniques that raise the content of the
psyche to the highest level possible, free from sentimentality and emotions, cut
off even from ones personal identity. Distillation is the purification of the unborn
Self -- all that we truly are and can be.
Physiologically, Distillation is raising the life force repeatedly from the lower
regions in the cauldron of the body to the brain (what Oriental alchemists called
the Circulation of the Light), where it eventually becomes a wondrous solidifying
light full of power. Distillation is said to culminate in the Third Eye area of the
forehead, at the level of the pituitary and pineal glands, in the Brow or Silver
Chakra.
In Society, the Distillation experience is expressed as science and objective
experimentation.
On the Planetary level, Distillation is the realization of the power of higher love,
as the life force on the entire planet gradually seeks to become one force in
nature based on a shared vision of Truth.

CORRESPONDENCES OF DISTILLATION
According to the Emerald Tablet, during the Distillation process, "It rises from
Earth to Heaven and descends again to Earth, thereby combining within Itself the
powers of both the Above and the Below." Substance: Mercury. Color: Deep
Blue (color of this page). Planet: Mercury. Metal: Silver.
COAGULATION is the seventh and final operation of alchemy.
Chemically, Coagulation is the precipitation or sublimation of the purified
Ferment from Distillation. In the Arcanum Experiment, Coagulation is
represented by a compound called Red Pulvis Solaris, which is a reddish-orange
powder of pure sulfur mixed with the therapeutic mercury compound, red
mercuric oxide. The name Pulvis Solaris means "Powder of the Sun" and the
alchemists believed it could instantly perfect any substance to which it was
added.
Psychologically, Coagulation is first sensed as a new confidence that is beyond
all things, though many experience it as a Second Body of golden coalesced
light, a permanent vehicle of consciousness that embodies the highest
aspirations and evolution of mind. Coagulation incarnates and releases the
Ultima Materia of the soul, the Astral Body, which the alchemists also referred to

it as the Greater or Philosophers Stone. Using this magical Stone, the

alchemists believed they could exist on all levels of reality.
Physiologically, this stage is marked by the release of the Elixir in the blood that
rejuvenates the body into a perfect vessel of health. A brain ambrosia is said to
be released through the interaction of light from the phallic-shaped pineal gland
and matter from the vulva of the pituitary. This heavenly food or viaticum both
nourishes and energizes the cells without any waste products being produced.
These physiological and psychological processes create the Second Body, a
body of solid light that emerges through the Crown or Gold Chakra.
In Society, it is the living wisdom in which everyone exists within the same light
of evolved consciousness and knowledge of Truth.
On the Planetary level, Coagulation is a return to the Garden of Eden, this time
on a higher level in tune with the divine mind.

CORRESPONDENCES OF COAGULATION
According to the Emerald Tablet, "Thus will you obtain the Glory of the Whole
Universe. All Obscurity will be clear to you. This is the greatest Force of all
powers, because it overcomes every Subtle thing and penetrates every Solid
thing." Substance: Salt. Color: Violet; Purple (color of this page). Planet: Sun.
Metal: Gold

Alchemical Poetry
Calcination | Dissolution | Separation | Conjunction | Fermentation |
Distillation | Coagulation
Just for Fun!

CALCINATION
I AM ON FIRE, WATCH ME BURN

Rake the clutter and make a fire,

arrange the stones to circle the pyre,

drag your belongings one by one,
break up the moon to inflame the sun.

Heave on reluctant years of learning

watch as photographs rejoice in burning.
Throw them in, achieve annihilation:
each crackle unveils a violation.

I am on fire, watch me burn;

awaiting the wretched tide to turn,
the colors blister, the patina darkens,
no mirror can hold me, mutation harkens.

Remove your clothes and cast them in

lick the flames, invite them in!
Pants, shirt, underwear, even rings
join in the perfect kindling of things.

Look into the flames, see them howl,

heap on the knick-knacks with a shovel;
pretty boxes, drawers, and tins,
observe the snake loose its skin.

Draw a circle, make a bowl

begin a dance to express your soul;
anything to further feed the flames
who delight in eating your remains.

From the smoke ascends a stair

do not hesitate, be aware if
fear should cause you to look back;
dash the things you do not lack.

As hungry angels gather around,

give them your body most profound
and a voice of darkest birds,
only ask that they leave you words.

A single sentence may cause

a stir, send out a search party,
provoke a cure, clenching torches
theyre sure to follow . . .

Pause to mourn a fallen swallow.

Having left a set of prints in mulch,

spewed my semen, built a church,

I rejoice in living the life I burned.

by Peter Valentyne <pvalentyne@email.msn.com>

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CALCINATION
CALCINATION

Sewn unto Lucifer's flames,

Usually reduced in crucibles
And calcined into dust,
A trophy
To hereditary exile:
Sulfuric and corrosive,
Red and lachrymal,
Calcinated under pressure
And tribulations;
To hereditary excess:
Burning and surrendering everything
Over flames.
Through hellish emanations,
Secreting power inside

Negative energy.
Intending to sacrifice
For angels that have
Eaten Righteousness,
I have sacrificed
These heavenly entities,
Scorched underneath Nothingness.

by Stuart Franklin <haugyit@yahoo.com>

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DISSOLUTION
GRACE UNDER WATER

Hands, pale and folded, remind me

I was there before wings,
upon a ladder, holding a cup, waving goodbye;
Though Ive no idea how or why.

It is not easy to forget myself,

worn as I am in this art of clothes,
mostly I am cloud white and corduroy,
a gliding vessel wedded to flight.

I am the determination to transcend,

to dip into the darkness
from a safety of days; though
once I fix things they tend to die.

I seek a Tarot of assurances, to know

that the difference between a swan
and a man merely lies
in twin aspects gone awry.

by Peter Valentyne <pvalentyne@email.msn.com>

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SEPARATION
ON THE ROAD

Oh, the road is rough and rocky,

The hills are steep and wide
Valleys there are many
With plenty of places to hide.

We are all climbing the mountain

There is no place else to go

For when you leave the valley
Youre on the road again.

Theres a fire atop the mountain

Its called Eternal Light
You can see it from the valleys,
You can feel it in the night

Im going up the mountain

To be Eternal Light
Ill set my feet upon the path
And strive with all my might

Im singing on my journey
Im taking giant steps
Oh, the mountain it is easy,
Ill be on top tonight

Oh, Traveler, Traveler, a voice cries out

No need to make the top tonight
Come rest in my green valley
Come talk about the Light

Theres a fire on the mountain

Its called Eternal Light
You can see it from my valley,
Well talk of you all night

Why not? For the mountain, it is easy

I can reach the top tonight
I can rest in your green valley
And see the light from there

Oh, Host, your valley is lush

And your hospitality much
I can see the light from here
Tis a beautiful sight

Oh, Host, thank you for the rest

I will stay the night right here
The mountain it is easy,
No need to make the top tonight

Oh, Host, tis time for me to bid ado

To set my feet upon my path

The mountain it is easy,

Ill be on top tonight

Im singing on my journey,
Im taking giant steps
The path is right beneath my feet
Ill be on top tonight

From here I go to there

Up the hill, around the bend
And where where
Where am I anyway?

Over there, I can see it in the clouds

But how to get from here to there
Im off the path!
Im off the path!

Calm down, retrace your steps

Look around, look down
Im off the path,
Im on the path?

Hey la, the valley, the green valley

The host, he sees me, welcomes me
Ah, Traveler, so nice to see you again
Come and share the valley once more.

Oh, Traveler, I can see,

That you are making tracks
Come follow and Ill show you
An easier way to go

Oh, Traveler, here is the path

And something to get high
So you, too, will have wings
Like the Eagle in the sky

Oh, the Eagle is a Noble Bird

So high above the trees.
Truly Regal Eagle
Soaring in the breeze

Now I am an Eagle
Flying oer the trees
The fire on the mountain

I can see with ease

And from great heights

I soar to meet the earth
I fill myself with her rich bounty
Then fly into the sky

Oh, the Earth is rich

The river is full
Regal Eagle that I am
Nothing is too much for me

And from the fire on the mountain

A voice comes from the light
Oh, Regal Eagle, flap your wings
Flap your wings with all your might

Regal Eagle flaps his wings

Regal Eagles ego falls
Hes stuffed so full, he cannot fly
Regal Eagles lost his wings

Where am I cries the Traveler

And what has happened to me?

Eagle feathers on the ground
Eagle feathers on the ground

The fire on the mountain

Where did my journey go
Is the mountain easy
Can I make the top

Green valley, where are you

And where am I to go
No shelter, no refuge
Im on the road again

Oh, the road is rough and rocky,

The hills are steep and wide
Valleys there are many
With plenty of places to hide

We are all climbing the mountain

There is nowhere else to go
For when we leave the valley
Were on the road again.

by Janet Turner <Janet2@cwnet.com>

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CONJUNCTION
ONE
Oh Hidden Life, vibrant in every atom,
Oh Hidden Light, shining in every creature,
Oh Hidden Love, embracing all in oneness,
May all who feel themselves as one with thee,
Know they are therefore one with every other.

by Annie Besant
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CONJUNCTION
THE EMERALD PATTERN

As our planet turns and floats,

We greet each starlit night,
Like time taking its course,
Through dawning and twilight.

Uncongealed consciousness flows

Through gulfs and voids in space,
As our needs to seek the truth
Grows life's pains, joys, and grace.

To the farthest star we move

In a pattern supreme and divine.
The pulses in One Heart -Splendid excess of a Mind.

by Francisco Borjas Broines Gaitan

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FERMENTATION
THE HOLY LONGING

Tell a wise person, or else keep silent,

Because the mass man will mock it right away,
I praise what is truly alive,
What longs to be burned to death.

In the calm of the love-nights,

Where you were begotten, where you have begotten,
A strange feeling comes over you
When you see the silent candle burning.

Now you are no longer caught

In the obsession with darkness,
And a desire for higher love-making
Sweeps you upward.

Distance does not make you falter,

Now, arriving in magic, flying,
And, finally, insane for the Light,
You are the butterfly and you are gone.

And so long as you havent experienced

This: to die and so to grow,
You are only a troubled guest
On the dark earth.

by Goethe (1814); translated by Robert Bly

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FERMENTATION
FIRST MATTER

Verdant sea of waist-high weeds,

wind-blown waves that
pass like goosebumps
over the fallow field.

Here Nature took a stand

and forbade the adult

cast.

No concrete squares to guide you -but long, meandering paths,

furrowed by children at play,
leading to secret

The tall grass waves

treasures.

invitingly back andforth.

"Leave the backyard!" it implores.

"Enter the hidden prairie!"
Dare I forsake the manicured lawn and garden,
the glib, structured mindset bearing down hard,
molding me all my seven years?

Freedom beckons beyond

the fence ,

freedom to have any thought I choose.

The summer Wind seduces me.

I desert my father's house

and jump the fence to where no man rules.
Where no one cares that

I lost the shopping money,

or that we live in the United States of America.

All that counts here is how we can be as one,

this boundless prairie and me.

Milkweed thistles reigned that day

and let me taste their cloudy dew.
Soon these prickly pods would burst,
and deck this field in white silk,
each seed fighting to be the first.

Oh, thick sweet air, moist summer Wind!

The earth smells so pungent here,
it can choke you.

I trace the Wind's breath beyond the bluff,

not remembering distance,
not measuring

time.

Deep in the heart of the prairie,

I discover an oasis of wonderment.

No weed grows here,

but a stately oak presides over a deep hole
in the yellow earth before me.
If I step forward just an inch,
the steep, smooth walls would swallow me,
perhaps dissolving me,
absorbing me into its clay belly.

At the crumbling edge I pause

for minutes, or days, or weeks;
slipping downward but not moving -changes here are not in space.

Nothing else but two gaping holes -one in the earth, one in me;
but by our similarity,
we merge into One.

I should have tried to run away.

But how to tell of the ball of energy,
power hid in earth, now free?
Hot mercury is burning a hole
in the paper landscape!

Coming and going are now the same in me;

all my attention is fused with the living light.
What is this spectral shining thing?
Nothing or everything?
The spheric kaleidoscope of
swirling yet tranquil patterns
overwhelms me with colors I cannot imagine
and exceeds any question I can ask.

Then I pull back.

My body or something else in me
demanding to go on
living as before.

Then I pull back.

My mother is calling me home again,
offering television, TV dinners,
and Dad.

by Dennis William Hauck <DWHauck@yahoo.com>

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DISTILLATION
CASTLE FLIGHT

I yearn to be free of this

subluminal vessel and
soar on golden wings of light,
beyond the crumbling castle
and its stale, polluted moat.

But too soon the golden light

changes into lead again,
and I plummet from high
on the towering parapet
to the dark dungeon below.

by Dennis William Hauck <DWHauck@yahoo.com>

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COAGULATION
SOUL

The Soul, secure in her existence,

smiles at the drawn dagger and defies its point.

The stars shall fade away,
the sun himself grow dim with age
and nature sink in years,
but thou shalt flourish in immortal youth,
unhurt amid the wars of elements,
the wreck of matter,
and the crush of worlds.

(From "Cato" by Joseph Addison 1713. This was the passage Edgar Allen Poe encrypted
and challenged his readers to decipher in 1841.
It was not until 1992 that a Duke University doctoral student succeeded.)
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COAGULATION
THE GOLD

Wilson's stave poorly saved for twenty years

As it nears
The sophistry and the mys'try of the gold
I was told
Was unjolly in its folly
Every broom and every brolly
Founded not the sophistry and the myst'ry of

the gold
Lovely gold
Au contraire let me dare and say my vouch
For some grouch
In the lighting of his writing said to thee:
"Alchemy
Is not sorted nor aborted
In those dialects distorted
But the lighting of my writing says it be
PURITY"
So the dawning's ill-forewarnings one young day so to say
Lit my cradle with some fable unbelieved
As it weaved
A spectre and reflector
Of this primordial projector
In my cradle making able image teethed
Upon, heaved
Then hologrammic monogrammic egg vessel
Left nestle
That it put at the foot of my bed
For it fled
Gave no utter nor a mutter
But a hovered fly flutter

And the graphic, oh the graphic, did I wrestle

(With the vessel)
When immersed yet unversed in such strange
Did it change
To a casket - no - a basket, holding flowers
Pollumn showers
Tried noses where roses
Of white in red imposes
Being sulphur (the engulfer) and merc'ry's
change
Roses arranged
In myriad eyes mad and tranced
Then glanced
Vessel's sailing peacock tailing image flux
One soon rucks
The sheet from his feet
To his mush quilt meets
Scared and fraught the apport nigh advanced
Hue enhanced
Could my senses that intenses like the ignis
Be the ignis?
And the salt that exalts my chem'cal wedding
Be my dredding?

In vito of libido's
Now-formed negredo
Then at once that which blunts my guess
distilled
fuscous-killed
Oh EUREKA! not one seeker saw the plight
Of this sight
'Tis sophistry and the myst'ry of the gold
Vivid, bold
Discerning and turning
To a sun-face burning
Beguiling face smiling splendid gold
Purest gold

by Godo <nlarner@gm.dreamcast.com>
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COAGULATION
WHEN
When all distractions cease,
Then dawns the Day of Peace:
When every "there" is "Here!"
And every veil made Clear;
When every "then" is "Now!"

This moment to endow;

When every "that" is "This!"
Awareness melts in Bliss;
When who you Are is "I"
Then will the Truth comply;
When the soul knows it is Called,
Then the heart is now enthralled.
Then the Divine can only Bless,
And the heart only say, "Yes!"
by Ed Hirsch <presence@gnaccess.com>
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EMERALD TABLET
Hermes set down seven steps to transform
From the 'lead' of Self, the 'gold' of Spirit is born.
Step one, CALCINATION, the Spirit awakes
What is life about? Questions you make.
Step two, DISSOLUTION, the Psyche stirs
Remorse abounds, realization occurs.
Step three, SEPARATION. Release! Let go!
Use your willpower now and still your Ego.
Step four, CONJUNCTION. Empowering! Behold!
Intuition now grows and realities unfold.
Step five, FERMENTATION, time to contemplate
Prepare to receive, focus and concentrate.
Step six, DISTILLATION, intuition perfected
Contact is made, knowledge is now projected.
Step seven, COAGULATION, you are one with all
Thoughts become actions, you have made the call.
Four steps below, three above, we see
Hermes gives us his tablet of Spirit Alchemy.

by Kate Chambers <katers2001@hotmail.com>

http://communities.msn.co.uk/SpiritualArt
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JUST FOR FUN!

GREEN POTION #1
(sung to the tune of Love Potion #9)

I took my troubles to the Alchemist.

You know -- that Merlin with the golden wrist.
He's got a pad down on Cedar made of pine,
Sellin' little bottles of Green Potion #1.

I told him that I was a flop with chicks.

I've been calcinating since 1956.
Just can't dissolve, separate, or ferment!
He said, "What you need is Green Potion #1."

He stood up, turned around, and gave me a wink.

He said "I'm going to brew it up right here in the sink."
It smelled like rotten eggs; it looked like India ink.
I held my nose; I closed my eyes. I took a drink.

I didn't know if I was out or in.

I started craving mercury, salt, and tin.
But when I ate some copper and silver just for fun,

I knew that I had finally reached coagulation ...

'cause of Green Potion #1. Green Potion #1!

by the Alchemy Workshop class at the Omega Institute

(August 14-18, 2000)
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THE BLOODY GREAT WORK

(a cautionary tale from the path of the dabbler)

I broke my soul the other day.

I hate it when that happens.
My karmas bent,
my chakras cracked,
and my Kundalini flattened.
I stuck my fingers in the fire
and scorched them to the joint.
I rote my rite
and rung my bell,
but forgot one tiny point.
If a force that's raised is out of phase
with the resident elemental,
the resulting blow
to the raiser's mind
can be seriously detrimental.
So the scales of balance tipped once more,
and reality went berserk.
But the journey's end
made me surer than before
that it really is a bloody Great Work.

by StarlighT (Yahoo Clubs)

Calcination

Dissolution

Separation

Conjunction

Fermentation

Distillation

Coagulation